Electron beam lithography on curved or tilted surfaces: Simulations and experiments

Abstract

There is a growing interest for patterning on curved or tilted surfaces using electron beam lithography. Computational proximity correction techniques are well established for flat surfaces and perpendicular exposure, but for curved and tilted surfaces adjustments are needed as the dose distribution is no longer cylindrically symmetric with respect to the surface normal. A graphical processing unit -accelerated 3D Monte Carlo simulation, based on first-principle scattering models, is used to simulate the asymmetric dose distribution. Based on that, an approximate adjustment is made to an existing high-performance proximity effect correction (PEC) algorithm aimed at the correct exposure of a pattern of nanowires on a 17° tilted surface. It was experimentally verified that using the adjusted PEC indeed leads to a more uniform exposure on tilted surfaces.