Large Beam Size Research Articles

Introducing bidirectional attention for autoregressive models in abstractive summarization

Abstractive summarization methods typically follow the autoregressive paradigm using the causal masks in the decoder for training and inference efficiency. However, this approach leads to a constant context throughout the generation process, which conflicting with the bidirectional characteristics of natural language. Although previous attempts have been made to incorporate bidirectional attention in the decoding process through non-autoregressive approach, the evaluation results are not comparable to the autoregressive methods. To bring bidirectional attention to the autoregressive process while maintaining superior performance, we propose the global autoregressive paradigm, which takes the outputs of the autoregressive process as additional inputs in the subsequent global iteration. Specifically, we build a bidirectional decoder alongside the original encoder and decoder to capture the bidirectional context of the outputs. This context is updated after each autoregressive decoding iteration. The decoder then integrates the updated context into subsequent autoregressive decoding steps, enhancing the generative process with a more comprehensive and authentic context. Additionally, we use contrastive learning to train the model to extract reliable features from the bidirectional context and apply reinforcement learning to improve the model's utilization of this context. We evaluate our method on CNN/DM, XSum, and NYT datasets, and the results highlight the significance of the bidirectional context. Our method achieves the best performance in terms of ROUGE-2 on CNN/DM (23.96), and performs comparably on XSum (25.45) and NYT (27.91). It also outperforms all the baselines in terms of BERTScore, with a score of 89.96 on CNN/DM, 92.70 on XSum, and 90.04 on NYT. Furthermore, our method can perform better with a larger beam size.

Dynamic loading platforms coupled to ultra-high speed X-ray imaging at beamline ID19 of the European Synchrotron ESRF

ABSTRACT The intersection of dynamic compression, high-rate material response and X-ray science has seen rapid growth, leading to the establishment of specialized end-stations at international facilities such as Linac Coherent Light Source LCLS (Matter at Extreme Conditions – MEC) and Advanced Photon Source APS (Dynamic Compression Sector – DCS), both USA. Although these facilities excel in working with X-rays tailored for small material volumes (i.e. < 1 mm 3 ), it needs a different approach to delve into subsequent processes. This is particularly the case in the transition from the micro- to mesoscale: here the ESRF distinguishes itself. The large beam size (several cm2) of the ID19 beamline, in conjunction with a strong high energy component, source flux density, and outstanding imaging sensitivity, enables sub-surface visualization of engineering-scale structures as well as natural systems in representative volume, under high rate and shock. This is particularly valuable when studying materials with complex mesostructures and heterogeneities on relevant volumetric scales, which often dominate the dynamic material response. The study of the behavior of materials under dynamic loading presents a unique challenge due to inherently spanning over multiple lengths- and timescales. The evolution of sudden (thermo)mechanical excitation, starting from the lattice scale and progressing through grains, phase domains, and ultimately to structures, exhibits a spectrum of responses spanning from the microscopic to bulk length scales. Consequently, a diverse range of diagnostics as well as driver instrumentation is required to identify, study, and characterize this material response spectrum. This article shall introduce platforms available at beamline ID19 and underline their potential by selected showcase applications. Community access proposals such as the beamtime Block Allocation Group (BAG) allow for access in a routine manner.

Investigation of the Ablation Behaviour of Andradite‐Grossular Garnets and Rutile with Implications for U‐Pb Geochronology

U‐Pb dating of andradite‐grossular garnet (grandite) and rutile by LA‐ICP‐MS can be used to constrain various metamorphic, metasomatic and igneous geological processes. In this study, we examine and compare the impact of different analytical conditions (fluence, pulse width, laser beam size and ablation frequency) on the ablation crater morphology, ablation rates, down‐hole fractionation and U‐Pb ages of grandite and rutile samples of different compositions. The shapes of grandite ablation craters suggest the mineral ablates by classical evaporation with significant melting that cannot be eliminated even at fluences just above the ablation threshold. Grandite garnets with higher andradite proportions have faster ablation rates. The overall low U contents of grandite require using large laser beam sizes to obtain acceptable precision of U‐Pb ages. At such conditions and crater depths &lt; 10 μm, fluences of 2.1 and 3.5 J cm‐2, laser pulse width of 5 ns and 20 ns, and ablation frequencies between 3.5 and 6.5 Hz, obtain similar and reproducible ages when the proportion of grossular is &lt; 35%. Rutile ablation crater morphology shows evidence of melt splashing and thermal stress cracking. They have significant crater bottom features, which increase in relief with lower fluences and a higher number of laser shots, indicating the features are probably energy‐related and making higher fluences, such as 5 J cm‐2, necessary for uniform ablation when using 193 nm excimer lasers. The slow ablation rate at low fluences and then steep increase at around 2.0 J cm‐2 suggests a transition in the ablation mechanism from exfoliation to classical vaporisation. Crater bottom features and other ablation behaviour vary between samples, which could be related to their difference in colour. Although the down‐hole fractionation patterns of the samples are similar at 5 J cm‐2, the U‐Pb ages of some samples vary significantly with different analytical conditions and/or measurement sessions, particularly when using laser beam sizes of 30 μm, suggesting differences in mass bias and more variable ablation behaviour. A laser beam size of at least 60 μm is recommended for reproducible U‐Pb dating of rutile.

Cat-eye retroreflectors based large-dynamic-range alignment-free laser

Lasers with cavities consisting of retroreflecting elements can give the potential for large-dynamic-range alignment-free operation, which makes the important applications in adaptive wireless laser power transfer/communication possible. In such an emerging approach based on resonant laser beam in the cavity, the laser is delivered to the photovoltaic cell for charging application (or photodiode for communication application) at the receiver automatically, without the necessity of positioning and aiming the receiver in conventional laser wireless power transfer techniques. The laser capable of operating alignment-free efficiently across large-dynamic-range is essential for the application. In this work, the requirements for the dynamic range of alignment-free operation are summarized. An alignment-free laser with a cavity consisting of cat-eye retroreflectors is designed, and a large alignment-free dynamic range as never before is experimentally demonstrated. Telescope system in the laser cavity is adopted to suppress the beam expansion to enhance the working distance between the laser transmitter and the receiver. Coupled cavity scheme is used to reduce the laser intensity between the transmitter and the receiver for laser safety. By calculating the stability zone of the laser cavity, it is found that the stability zone of the receiver cat-eye distance is quite narrow. Hence, the laser operation is very sensitive to the defocusing of the cat eye defocusing. Moreover, the cat eye defocusing induced by optical aberrations of spherical aberration and field curvature can be rather serious, when the long working distance results in a large beam size and the angle of incidence is large, hence limiting the effective working distance and the field of view of the alignment-free laser significantly. In the experiment, the improved optical designs with the aberrations compensation are adopted for large-dynamic-range alignment-free operation. The end-pumped Nd:GdVO&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; laser at 1063 nm can deliver over 5-W output within a working distance range of 1–5 m, and a receiver field of view of ±30°, without cavity realignment. The transmitter field of view reaching 4.6° (full width at half maximum) at a working distance of 5 m is also realized, with a corresponding receiver transverse movement range of 40 cm. Our work clarifies the optimizing criteria of the large-dynamic-range alignment-free laser based on cat-eye retroreflectors.

Powder Bed Fusion of Multimaterials

Powder bed fusion (PBF) process has been used successfully to produce 3D structures using single material properties. The current industrial demand is to use the technology to produce 3D structures of multimaterial properties. An electron beam melting (EBM) process has been used to produce 3D structures of multimaterial properties. However, due to the large beam size, the EBM process lacks geometrical accuracy, requiring a large machining allowance. A laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process could be used to produce multimaterials with geometrical precision. However, the thermal gradient within the molten pool and the thermophysical difference between the multimaterials leads to defects (weak interfacial bonds, interlayer and intralayer cracks). Other challenges such as poor powder delivery system, powder cross-contamination, and lack of appropriate data processing software for producing 3D multimaterial structures are not yet fully resolved. Nonetheless, there have been encouraging results for producing the next generational multimaterial 3D components of intricate geometrical characteristics.

Performance of the correlated painting based on the mechanical structure of the anticorrelated painting scheme

The China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) accelerator consists of an 80 MeV ${H}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ Linac and a 1.6-GeV rapid cycling synchrotron (RCS). The painting scheme is one of the most important factors for the control of low beam loss at high beam power. In the painting injection of the CSNS/RCS, position scanning is used in both horizontal and vertical planes, and the anticorrelated painting is the design scheme. By using the anticorrelated painting, the beam power has successfully reached 50 kW. However, some problems have been found in the higher power beam commissioning, for instance, too large beam size after painting, nonuniform beam distribution, large transverse coupling effect, and so on, resulting in additional beam loss and making it difficult to satisfy the requirements of a high-power user mode. In order to solve these problems, flexibility in the CSNS design has been exploited to implement the correlated painting by using the rising current curve of the pulse power supply. The effectiveness of the new method has been verified in the simulation and beam commissioning, which can well control the full beam emittance and improve the beam distribution. By using the new method, the beam power on the target has successfully risen from 50 kW to the design value of 100 kW. Under the mechanical structure of the anticorrelated painting scheme where the position scanning is used in both horizontal and vertical planes, the correlated painting has been successfully achieved by using the rising current curve.

Application of a scattering foil to increase beam transmission for cyclotron based proton therapy facilities

In proton therapy, high dose rates can reduce treatment delivery times, allowing for efficient mitigation of tumor motion, as well as increased treatment efficiency and patient throughput. In cyclotron-based facilities, however, high dose rates are difficult to achieve at low-energies. In current facilities, the emittance after the degrader is matched in both transversal planes using circular collimators; this does not provide an optimal matching to the acceptance of the following beamline. However, transmission can be substantially improved by transporting maximum acceptable emittances in the X and Y planes, but at the cost of an elliptical beam shape at the gantry entrance, leading to gantry angle-dependent beam shapes at the isocenter. Here we demonstrate that equal emittances in both planes can be recovered at the gantry entrance using a thin scattering foil, thus ensuring gantry angle-independent beam shape at the isocenter. Using modified beam optics and thin scattering foil placed in the beamline, we demonstrate experimentally that low-energy beam transmission can be increased by a factor of three compared to the currently used beam optics, whilst preserving gantry angle-independent beam shapes, at the cost of a large beam size. We expect that this approach could also bring a similar transmission improvement in other cyclotron-based proton therapy facilities.

Dependence of Molecular Cloud Samples on Angular Resolution, Sensitivity, and Algorithms

In this work, we investigate the observational and algorithmic effects on molecular cloud samples identified from position–position–velocity (PPV) space. By smoothing and cutting off the high quality data of the Milky Way Imaging Scroll Painting (MWISP) survey, we extract various molecular cloud samples from those altered data with the DBSCAN (density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise) algorithm. Those molecular cloud samples are subsequently used to gauge the significance of sensitivity, angular/velocity resolution, and DBSCAN parameters. Two additional surveys, the FCRAO Outer Galaxy Survey and the CfA-Chile 1.2 m complete CO (CfA-Chile) survey, are used to verify the MWISP results. We found that molecular cloud catalogs are not unique and that the catalog boundary and therefore the sample size show strong variation with angular resolution and sensitivity. At low angular resolution (large beam sizes), molecular clouds merge together in PPV space, while a low sensitivity (high cutoffs) misses small faint molecular clouds and takes bright parts of large molecular clouds as single ones. At high angular resolution and sensitivity, giant molecular clouds (GMCs) are resolved into individual clouds, and their diffuse components are also revealed. Consequently, GMCs are more appropriately interpreted as clusters or aggregates of molecular clouds, i.e., GMCs represent molecular cloud samples themselves.

Multiwavelength properties of 850-μm selected sources from the North Ecliptic Pole SCUBA-2 survey

ABSTRACT We present the multiwavelength counterparts of 850-$\mu$m selected submillimetre sources over a 2-deg2 field centred on the North Ecliptic Pole. In order to overcome the large beam size (15 arcsec) of the 850-$\mu$m images, deep optical to near-infrared (NIR) photometric data and arcsecond-resolution 20-cm images are used to identify counterparts of submillimetre sources. Among 647 sources, we identify 514 reliable counterparts for 449 sources (69 per cent in number), based either on probabilities of chance associations calculated from positional offsets or offsets combined with the optical-to-NIR colours. In the radio imaging, the fraction of 850-$\mu$m sources having multiple counterparts is 7 per cent. The photometric redshift, infrared luminosity, stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), and the active galactic nucleus (AGN) contribution to the total infrared luminosity of the identified counterparts are investigated through spectral energy distribution fitting. The SMGs are infrared-luminous galaxies at an average 〈z〉 = 2.5 with log10(LIR/L⊙) = 11.5–13.5, with a mean stellar mass of log10(Mstar/M⊙) = 10.90 and SFR of $\mathrm{log}_{10} (\mathrm{SFR/M_\odot \, yr^{-1}})=2.34$. The submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) show twice as large SFR as galaxies on the star-forming main sequence, and about 40 per cent of the SMGs are classified as objects with bursty star formation. At z ≥ 4, the contribution of AGN luminosity to total luminosity for most SMGs is larger than 30 per cent. The FIR-to-radio correlation coefficient of SMGs is consistent with that of main-sequence galaxies at z ≃ 2.

Three-dimensional finite element modeling of hydroacoustic diaphragms: Structural reinforcement effect of acoustic characters

The design of the piston driven diaphragm is critical for underwater acoustic sound generators. The reinforcement beams can be used to alter the acoustic performance of the diaphragm. A 3 D finite element (FE) model was established to study the effect of different sized reinforcement beams using the pressure acoustic and solid mechanical models. The underwater sound pressure level (SPL) and eigenfrequencies were analyzed to evaluate the acoustic performance of the diaphragms. The results show that the large reinforcement beam sizes change the eigenfrequencies and the sound pressure.

Increase of the transmission and emittance acceptance through a cyclotron-based proton therapy gantry.

PurposeIn proton therapy, the gantry, as the final part of the beamline, has a major effect on beam intensity and beam size at the isocenter. Most of the conventional beam optics of cyclotron‐based proton gantries have been designed with an imaging factor between 1 and 2 from the coupling point (CP) at the gantry entrance to the isocenter (patient location) meaning that to achieve a clinically desirable (small) beam size at isocenter, a small beam size is also required at the CP. Here we will show that such imaging factors are limiting the emittance which can be transported through the gantry. We, therefore, propose the use of large beam size and low divergence beam at the CP along with an imaging factor of 0.5 (2:1) in a new design of gantry beam optics to achieve substantial improvements in transmission and thus increase beam intensity at the isocenter.MethodsThe beam optics of our gantry have been re‐designed to transport higher emittance without the need of any mechanical modifications to the gantry beamline. The beam optics has been designed using TRANSPORT, with the resulting transmissions being calculated using Monte Carlo simulations (BDSIM code). Finally, the new beam optics have been tested with measurements performed on our Gantry 2 at PSI.ResultsWith the new beam optics, we could maximize transmission through the gantry for a fixed emittance value. Additionally, we could transport almost four times higher emittance through the gantry compared to conventional optics, whilst achieving good transmissions through the gantry (>50%) with no increased losses in the gantry. As such, the overall transmission (cyclotron to isocenter) can be increased by almost a factor of 6 for low energies. Additionally, the point‐to‐point imaging inherent to the optics allows adjustment of the beam size at the isocenter by simply changing the beam size at the CP.ConclusionWe have developed a new gantry beam optics which, by selecting a large beam size and low divergence at the gantry entrance and using an imaging factor of 0.5 (2:1), increases the emittance acceptance of the gantry, leading to a substantial increase in beam intensity at low energies. We expect that this approach could easily be adapted for most types of existing gantries.

Fabrication of Large Area, Ordered Nanoporous Structures on Various Substrates for Potential Electro-Optic Applications

Nanoporous structures have attracted great attention in electronics, sensor and storage devices, and photonics because of their large surface area, large volume to surface ratio, and potential for high-sensitivity sensor applications. Normally, electron or ion beam patterning can be used for nanopores fabrication by direct writing. However, direct writing is a rather expensive and time-consuming method due to its serial nature. Therefore, it may not translate to a preferred manufacturing process. In this research, a perfectly ordered large-area periodic pattern in an area of approximately 1 cm2 has been successfully fabricated on various substrates including glass, silicon, and polydimethylsiloxane, using a two-step process comprising visible light-based multibeam interference lithography and subsequent pattern transfer processes of reactive ion etching and nanomolding. Additionally, the multibeam interference lithography templated anodized aluminum oxide process has been described. Since the fabrication area in multibeam interference lithography can be extended by using a larger beam size, it is highly cost effective and manufacturable. Furthermore, although not described here, an electrodeposition process can be utilized as a pattern transfer process. This large-area perfectly ordered nanopore array will be very useful for high-density electronic memory and photonic bandgap and metamaterial applications.

The First Detection of CH2CN in a Protoplanetary Disk

Abstract We report the first detection of the molecule cyanomethyl, CH2CN, in a protoplanetary disk. Until now, CH2CN had only been observed at earlier evolutionary stages, in the molecular clouds TMC-1, Sgr2, and L483, in the prestellar core L1544, and toward the protostar L1527. We detect six transitions of ortho-CH2CN toward the disk around nearby T Tauri star TW Hya. An excitation analysis reveals that the disk-averaged column density, N , for ortho-CH2CN is (6.3 ± 0.5) × 1012 cm−2, which is rescaled to reflect a 3:1 ortho-para ratio, resulting in a total column density, N tot, of (8.4 ± 0.7) × 1012 cm−2. We calculate a disk-average rotational temperature, T rot = 40 ± 5 K, while a radially resolved analysis shows that T rot remains relatively constant across the radius of the disk. This high rotation temperature suggests that in a static disk and if vertical mixing can be neglected, CH2CN is largely formed through gas-phase reactions in the upper layers of the disk, rather than solid-state reactions on the surface of grains in the disk midplane. The integrated intensity radial profiles show a ring structure consistent with molecules such as CN and DCN. We note that this is also consistent with previous lower-resolution observations of centrally peaked CH3CN emission toward the TW Hya disks, since the observed emission gap disappears when convolving our observations with a larger beam size. We obtain a CH2CN/CH3CN ratio ranging between 4 and 10. This high CH2CN/CH3CN is reproduced in a representative chemical model of the TW Hya disk that employs standard static disk chemistry model assumptions, i.e., without any additional tuning.

A new emittance selection system to maximize beam transmission for low-energy beams in cyclotron-based proton therapy facilities with gantry.

PurposeIn proton therapy, the potential of using high‐dose rates in the cancer treatment is being explored. High‐dose rates could improve efficiency and throughput in standard clinical practice, allow efficient utilization of motion mitigation techniques for moving targets, and potentially enhance normal tissue sparing due to the so‐called FLASH effect. However, high‐dose rates are difficult to reach when lower energy beams are applied in cyclotron‐based proton therapy facilities, because they result in large beam sizes and divergences downstream of the degrader, incurring large losses from the cyclotron to the patient position (isocenter). In current facilities, the emittance after the degrader is reduced using circular collimators; however, this does not provide an optimal matching to the acceptance of the following beamline, causing a low transmission for these energies. We, therefore, propose to use a collimation system, asymmetric in both beam size and divergence, resulting in symmetric emittance in both beam transverse planes as required for a gantry system. This new emittance selection, together with a new optics design for the following beamline and gantry, allows a better matching to the beamline acceptance and an improvement of the transmission.MethodsWe implemented a custom method to design the collimator sizes and shape required to select high emittance, to be transported by the following beamline using new beam optics (designed with TRANSPORT) to maximize acceptance matching. For predicting the transmission in the new configuration (new collimators + optics), we used Monte Carlo simulations implemented in BDSIM, implementing a model of PSI Gantry 2 which we benchmarked against measurements taken in the current clinical scenario (circular collimators + clinical optics).ResultsFrom the BDSIM simulations, we found that the new collimator system and matching beam optics results in an overall transmission from the cyclotron to the isocenter for a 70 MeV beam of 0.72%. This is an improvement of almost a factor of 6 over the current clinical performance (0.13% transmission). The new optics satisfies clinical beam requirements at the isocenter.ConclusionsWe developed a new emittance collimation system for PSI's PROSCAN beamline which, by carefully selecting beam size and divergence asymmetrically, increases the beam transmission for low‐energy beams in current state‐of‐the‐art cyclotron‐based proton therapy gantries. With these improvements, we could predict almost 1% transmission for low‐energy beams at PSI's Gantry 2. Such a system could easily be implemented in facilities interested in increasing dose rates for efficient motion mitigation and FLASH experiments alike.

Beam-size effects on the measurement of sub-picosecond intrinsic laser induced damage threshold of dielectric oxide coatings.

Laser-induced damage experiments on HfO2 and Nb2O5 thin films were performed with 500 fs pulse duration at 1030 nm wavelength. Threshold fluences as a function of beam size have been determined for effective beam diameters ranging from 40 to 220 µm, in a single shot regime. The results suggest no beam-size effect related to material properties in the investigated range, but size effects related to the metrology. The results indicate the importance of appropriate focusing conditions and beam measurement to qualify the optics for use in lasers with large beam sizes.

On the Beam Filling Factors of Molecular Clouds

Abstract Imaging surveys of CO and other molecular transition lines are fundamental to measuring the large-scale distribution of molecular gas in the Milky Way. Due to finite angular resolution and sensitivity, however, observational effects are inevitable in the surveys, but few studies are available on the extent of uncertainties involved. The purpose of this work is to investigate the dependence of observations on angular resolution (beam sizes), sensitivity (noise levels), distances, and molecular tracers. To this end, we use high-quality CO images of a large-scale region (258 &lt; l &lt; 497 and ∣b∣ &lt; 5°) mapped by the Milky Way Imaging Scroll Painting (MWISP) survey as a benchmark to simulate observations with larger beam sizes and higher noise levels, deriving corresponding beam filling and sensitivity clip factors. The sensitivity clip factor is defined to be the completeness of observed flux. Taking the entire image as a whole object, we found that 12CO has the largest beam filling and sensitivity clip factors and C18O has the lowest. For molecular cloud samples extracted from images, the beam filling factor can be described by a characteristic size, l 1/4 = 0.762 (in beam size), at which the beam filling factor is approximately 1/4. The sensitivity clip factor shows a similar relationship but is more correlated with the mean voxel signal-to-noise ratio of molecular clouds. This result may serve as a practical reference on beam filling and sensitivity clip factors in further analyses of the MWISP data and other observations.

Influence of spherical aberration on beam quality of high-power laser beams propagating upwards in the atmosphere

For laser ablation propulsion’s applications in space (e.g., space-debris removal, etc.), the laser power is well above the critical power for self-focusing in the atmosphere. Therefore, the self-focusing effect on the beam quality is very significant. In addition, a high-power laser beam is usually accompanied with spherical aberration due to nonlinear effects in its generation process. In this paper, the influence of spherical aberration on the beam quality of high-power laser beams propagating upwards in the atmosphere is studied by using numerical simulation. It is shown that for the large beam size case, the target intensity may be improved by applying the positive spherical aberration. However, for the small beam size case, the target intensity may be improved by using the negative spherical aberration. Furthermore, a laser beam with a large size is more suitable for laser ablation propulsion’s applications in space than that with a small size. Owing to the linear diffraction effect and the nonlinear self-focusing effect, there exists optimal beam power to maximize the target intensity. The formula of the optimal beam power is fitted for the large beam size case in this paper. On the other hand, the focal shift appears due to diffraction, self-focusing and spherical aberration, which results in a degradation of the beam quality on the target. For the large beam size case, to move the actual focus to the target and improve the beam quality on the target, the formula of the modified focal length is also derived in this paper. The results obtained in this paper are of important theoretical significance and practical value.

Laser-driven plasma sources of intense, ultrafast, and coherent radiation

High-power lasers can deliver extreme light intensities, but avoiding damage in optical components requires large beam sizes, hindering further advances. The use of plasma as a medium for generating and manipulating light avoids the damage thresholds of solid materials and can support extraordinarily bright radiation. We discuss here how parametric plasma amplification and relativistic high-order harmonic generation offer paths to the development of light sources with peak powers beyond the capabilities of solid-state optics.

Theory analysis and experimental demonstration of a microlens array scanner with Kepler structure

The technology of a microlens array scanner (MLAS) has the potential to realize large-angle beam scanning with a large beam size. Two sets of microlens arrays (MLAs) were used as phase-controlling emitters in MLAS. A mathematical model of the MLAS with Kepler structure was established in the desired direction and leakage direction. It was verified that the maximum relative displacement of MLAS was half of the MLA sub-aperture. Two sets of F/5 continuous surface MLAs were used as emitters in the experiment. One-dimensional discrete-addressing scanning process with ∼10∘ field of view is demonstrated, and it is in good agreement with the theory.

Shape and dose control for proximity effect correction on massively parallel electron-beam systems

Massively parallel electron-beam (e-beam) systems (MPESs) were developed to increase the writing throughput and demonstrated to be able to write large-scale patterns significantly faster compared to conventional single-beam systems. However, such systems still suffer from the inherent proximity effect due to the electron scattering in the resist. The proximity effect correction (PEC) has been investigated for a long time, and several PEC schemes have been proposed. Though most of the PEC schemes may be employed for an MPES, their direct application would be subject to the system’s constraints, e.g., a relatively large beam size, a fixed exposing interval, and the same deflection angle for all beams, which may lead to nonoptimal correction results. In this work, practical methods for realizing various types of spatial dose distributions required for the PEC and implementing both shape and dose corrections under the MPES constraints have been developed. It has been shown that, with these methods, the proximity effect correction can be performed effectively with the critical dimension error, line edge roughness, and total dose taken into account.