We have quantitatively investigated a periodic nanostructure exposure process by electron beam lithography (EBL). The targeted applications are nano-to micro-electromechanical systems (NEMS/MEMS), nanophotonics, surface plasmonic structures, and metamaterials. It is confirmed that the character projection (CP) method can obtain both high throughput and high resolution simultaneously as compared with the variable-shaped beam (VSB) method. We used square, triangular, and octagonal CP stencil masks to realize a nanohole array (NHA) of 10.4 mm 2 area. The holes were placed in both square and hexagonal grid configurations. We measured the hole patterns by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and scanning probe microscopy (SPM). Also, the effect of NHA size variation was measured on the basis of optical absorption spectra obtained using a system consisting of an optical microscope and a spectrum analyzer. The spectrum variation was confirmed to be in good agreement with the local size variation; identically fabricated NHAs showed identical spectra. It is therefore possible to control the nanometric critical dimensions by using NHAs as process indicators.

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We propose and demonstrate a drop-in test structure to visualize and measure the residual stress in the conformally deposited film. For reliable device process of microsystems (such as 3-D MEMS), the residual stress must be controlled through quantitative evaluation at each deposition step. A small drop-in test structure placed near the main sample is suitable for monitoring film characteristics. We developed a free-standing rotating beam stress sensor as the drop-in test structure to visualize and measure the residual stress in conformally deposited films with no additional processes. The dimensions of the developed drop-in test structure chips were 5 mm × 10 mm. For a demonstration, Cu supercritical fluid deposition (SCFD) was performed over the test structure chips under a couple of conditions. The residual stresses in SCFD Cu films were successfully extracted by equation-based analysis.