Recent advances in thermal field emission (TFE) electron beam optics column design for lithography are described. Innovations include source vibration mode mapping, accelerating electron gun lens, gun arc-suppression, automated cathode pyrometer, and experimental deflection control system. Several of these column optics and system enhancements, which improve the accuracy and reliability of MEBES° R IV-TFE systems, have enabled patterning of 64 Mbit dynamic random access memory (DRAM) 5×-reduction reticles. A 13000-hour cathode lifetime has been achieved in a production environment. Automated column setups over the entire operating range with 99% success and 5 min average times are possible. Blanking at 160 MHz with 30 nm (3σ) critical dimension control is achieved. Data obtained with a new experimental deflection control method can quickly compensate stripe butting drift to high accuracy. Challenges in mask patterning for advanced applications are then considered. Several accuracy and throughput issues for advanced 5× reticles for DRAM, 1× masks, and nanolithography are discussed. Examples are given of scaling recent system data as a means of estimating future error budget components.

Articles you may be interested inReflective electron beam lithography: A maskless ebeam direct write lithography approach using the reflective electron beam lithography concept J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 28, C6C6 (2010); 10.1116/1.3511436Picometer resolution measurement of the frequency spectrum of a periodic structure written by a MEBES electron beam pattern generator Exposure and development models used in electron beam lithographyThe lithographic performance of the MEBES@ IV maskmaker is described. This raster-scan electron beam lithography system automates the thermal field emission (TFE) column and makes a number of advances in the electronics and software control subsystems to achieve the stability and accuracy sufficient for 64-Mbit production and 256-Mbit development. Key module developments are highlighted, including TFE column vibration reduction, column setup automation, 160 MHz blanking at a high slew rate, low noise, and increased linearity of the deflection control electronics, and multipoint system temperature control. Data on lithographic quality is presented, as well as GHOST™ proximity correction results for 1 X maskmaking applications with 0.2 Jlm minimum feature sizes. III. KEY SUBSYSTEM INNOVATIONS A. Dose and resolution improvementsGreater feature accuracy can be achieved by reducing the beam address size. To help maintain throughput, the writing rate is doubled to 160 MHz. Increased current 2734

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