Effects of abnormal beams on writing qualities in massively-parallel e-beam systems

Abstract

While electron-beam (e-beam) lithography is widely used in transferring fine-feature patterns onto a substrate, its major drawback is the low throughput, especially for large-scale patterns. To increase the writing throughput, e-beam machines with massively-parallel beams were recently developed. In such a system, it is highly likely that some beams may not be normal, e.g., permanently on or off, a significant current fluctuation, beam-positioning error, etc. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how abnormal beams affect writing qualities. In this study, the effects of abnormal beams on the writing qualities are analyzed through an extensive simulation, comparing three different writing methods, single-row writing I, single-row writing II, and multirow writing, to suggest ways of reducing their negative effects.