Electron

beam Lithography (EBL)

Raja Sellappan
 Electron-beam Lithography (EBL)
•  EBL uses a highly focused beam of electrons to make pa=erns on the
wafer.
•  EBL is used to make extreme fine structures on a wafer because the
wavelength of electrons is smaller.
h h h h 1.226
Wavelength of electrons λ = = = = = nm
p mv 2mE 2meV V
V = Acceleration voltage (10 keV to 100 keV)
e = Charge of an electron (1.6 x 10 −19C)
Unit for energy of an electron= eV=1.6 x 10 −19Volt

•  The wavelength of electrons is on the order of picometer (10-12 m) for 10

kV acceleraHon voltage. So the spot size of electrons is very very small.
•  The resolu:on of EBL is higher (~< 10 nm) than opHcal lithography where
the wavelength of light limits (diffracHon) the resoluHon.
 EBL
•  EBL does not use any mask to define pa=erns in photoresist.
•  Electron beam writes the pa=ern directly on photoresist
serially. i.e. it writes the pa=ern one by one (Not parallel like
in photolithography (PL)).
•  Unlike PL, the EBL takes Hme to write pa=erns because of its
serial wriHng manner. i.e. low throughput.
•  Using EBL, one can make arbitrarily any structures/shapes you
want using computer-controlled program.
•  It requires high vacuum.
•  Photomasks in PL are fabricated using the EBL technique.
•  EBL is good for academic and research purposes in
comparison to semiconductor industry.


 Low Throughput
•  *“The minimum Hme to expose a given area for a given dose is
given by the following formula
D.A = T. I
where ‘T’ is the Hme to expose the object (can be divided into
exposure Hme/step size), ‘I’ is the beam current, ‘D’ is the dose
and ‘A’ is the area exposed.
•  For example, assuming an exposure area of 1 cm2, a dose of 10−3
coulombs/cm2, and a beam current of 10−9 amperes, the resulHng
minimum write Hme would be 106 seconds (about 12 days).
•  To cover the 700 cm2 surface area of a 300 mm silicon wafer, the
minimum write Hme would extend to 7*108 seconds, about 22
years.”*

* Source: Wikipedia.org
 Process steps

1)  Clean the wafer

2)  Electron beam resist coaHng
3)  Pa=ering resist directly with electron beam
4)  Developing
5)  Films deposiHon, doping, etching process
6)  Lij-off
h=p://www.dileepnanotech.com/arHcles/Lithography.html
 EBL resists
•  Like PL, EBL resists also categorize into posiHve and negaHve
resists.
•  PMMA (Poly Methyl Methacrylate) polymer is used frequently
as a posiHve resist in EBL.

PosiHve resist (PMMA, ZEP700) NegaHve resist (SAL 601, SR7)

Developer: It is organic solvents that dissolve resists below criHcal molecular weight.
EBL SchemaHc
1.  Electron gun: Source of
electrons (Thermionic or field
emission).
2.  Electron op:cs: Consists of set
of electro-magneHc lenses to
focus the electron beam.
3.  Blanker: Block /blank or turn-off
the electrons beam via
deflecHng it from its axis by
applying DC voltage
perpendicular to electron’s
path.
4.  Beam Deflector: Deflects the
beam forth and back over the
specimen by conducHng plates.
5.  Mechanical stage: Aligns the
specimen under the electron
beam.
ElectromagneHc lens

Force acHng on electrons

Lorentz Force F = −e (V x B)
F = −e VB Sinθ

Source: Google
 EBL scanning modes

Raster scan Vector scan

‘Scanning mode in which beam is moving back ‘Scanning mode in which beam is
and forth over the enHre substrate; beam is scanning selected areas only; ajer
turned on over designated area and then turned scanning of selected area is completed,
off unHl it will arrive at the next designated beam is turned off and moved to
area’ another area to be scanned’
ü  Good for dense pa=ern but not good for ü  Good for sparse pa=ern as it takes
sparse pa=ern as it takes more Hme. less Hme.
h=p://www.semi1source.com/glossary/
 ResoluHon in EBL
•  Unlike photolithography, the resoluHon of EBL is not limited
by the wavelength of electrons since it is very small.
•  The resolu:on of EBL is limited by scaKering of electrons
with the resist and the substrate as well as lens aberra:on.

Here incident beam

should fall only on ‘A’
because of electron
sca=ering, the beam
spreads to ‘B’. This effect
is called proximity effect.

h=p://nanolithography.gatech.edu/proximity.htm
 Electron sca=ering
(or) Proximity effect 3 KeV
•  The electron sca=ering effect is called
proximity effect.
•  Two types of scaKering: Forward and
backward sca=ering.
•  Forward scaKering: An electron can collide 10 KeV
with an electron from one of the atoms in the
substrate/resist and transfer part of its energy
to the atom.
•  Because of the extra energy, the target atom
(part of a resist molecule) or the molecular
chain may break due to this excitaHon or
ionizaHon. •  Forward sca=ering is
•  The scaKering angle due to inelasHc sca=ering reduced with
is small. Forward sca=ering increasing energy

1. h=p://nanolithography.gatech.edu/proximity.htm
2. Fundamentals of Electron Beam Exposure 2 and
Backward sca=ering Development
 Electron sca=ering
(or) Proximity effect
•  Backward scaKering: The incident electron collides with heavy nucleus
results in elasHc sca=ering of light.
•  No energy is lost and the sca=ering angle may be large.
•  The electron returns back through the resist may cause addiHonal
exposure in the resist and resulHng in creaHon of secondary electrons.
•  The backsca=ering electrons are responsible for proximity effect.

Forward sca=ering

Backward sca=ering

1. h=p://nanolithography.gatech.edu/proximity.htm
2. Fundamentals of Electron Beam Exposure 2 and
Development
Electron beam sca=ering

Electron scaKering vs Energy

Electron beam sca=ering

Monte Carlo simulaHon

 Lens aberraHon
1.  Aberra:ons
•  In ideal case, the lens should produce
demagnifed image of electron’s source
at focus point.
•  In pracHcal case, there is a deviaHon or
distorHon of electron’s focus point
from its original posiHon (AberraHon).
Examples: Spherical aberraHon,
chromaHc, etc.
2.  As:gma:sm : Asymmetry in beam’s
posiHon due to hysteresis in magneHc
lenses. The beam will be ellipHcal
causing problems in the beam
focusing.

Pictures Ref: Wikipedia.org

 PL and EBL Comparison
PL EBL
1 Parallel wriHng on the resist through Serial wriHng directly on
mask. the resist.

2 Mask is required No mask is required

3 High throughput Low throughput
4 ResoluHon is diffracHon limited ResoluHon: Not diffracHon
limited because of short
wavelength but electron
sca=ering effect.

5 Minimum feature size: Normally above Minimum feature size:

couple of 100 nm Less than 20 nm is possible

6 Cheaper than EBL and not Hme Expensive and Hme

consuming. consuming.