Electron Beam Lithography
Electron Beam Lithography (EBL) is a method that allows the original digital image to be transferred directly to the interested substrate without the use of mask. It was introduced soon after the development of the scanning electron microscope.
In 1954, Broers reported 50 nm lines ion milled into metal films using a contamination resist patterned with a 10 nm wide e-beam. Later in 1976, with improved electron optics, 8 nm lines in Au-Pd were reported using a 0.5 nm probe. In 1984, a functioning Aharonov-Bohm interference device was fabricated with Electron Beam Lithography.
One year later, 1 nm to 2 nm features in metal halide resists were reported. Until recently, Electron Beam Lithography is used almost exclusively for fabricating research and prototype nanoelectronic devices. Its precision and nanolithographic capabilities make it the tool of choice for making masks for other advanced lithographies.
In Electron Beam Lithography nanofabrication, working conditions at which electron scattering causes minimal resist exposure are required.
To achieve this goal, either very high energy or very low energy electrons are used. In high-energy case, the beam broadening in the resist through elastic scattering is minimal and the beam penetrates deeply into the substrate.
Low energy electron approaches are effective because the electrons have very low energy so that they are unable to scatter over large distances in the resist.
To implement e-beam nanolithography into a manufacturing process, speed and precision are required as well as control and yield in the nanofabrication processes.
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