Electron beam direct write: shaped beam overcomes resolution concerns

Abstract

In semiconductor industry time to market is one of the key success factors. Therefore fast prototyping and low-volume production will become extremely important for developing process technologies that are well ahead of the current technological level. Electron Beam Lithography has been launched for industrial use as a direct write technology for these types of applications. However, limited throughput rates and high tool complexity have been seen as the major concerns restricting the industrial use of this technology. Nowadays this begins to change. Variable Shaped Beam (VSB) writers have been established in Electron Beam Direct Write (EBDW) on Si or GaAs. In the paper semiconductor industry requirements to EBDW will be outlined. Behind this background the Vistec SB3050 lithography system will be reviewed. The achieved resolution enhancement of the VSB system down to the 22nm node exposure capability will be discussed in detail; application examples will be given. Combining EBDW in a Mix and Match technology with optical lithography is one way to utilize the high flexibility advantage of this technology and to overcome existing throughput concerns. However, to some extend a common Single Electron Beam Technology (SBT) will always be limited in throughput. Therefore Vistec's approach of a system that is based on the massive parallelisation of beams (MBT), which was initially pursued in a European Project, will also be discussed.