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EP0097417A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Electron beam lithography

Assignee: HP Inc
•
Filing: 1983-04-28
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2003-04-28
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Abstract

Abstract In electron beam lithography, a beam of incident electrons exposes a preselected circuit pattern in a thin resist layer deposited on top of a substrate to be etched. Some of the electrons scatter from the substrate back into the resist layer producing an undesired exposure which produces variable resolution of features. In accordance with the disclosed technique, the region of the resist which is complementary to the desired circuit pattern is also exposed by an electron beam which has been adjusted to produce an exposure approximating that due to backscattering. This additional exposure removes the spatial variability in resolution attainable by the electron beam lithography.

Inventors

  • 👤 Geraint Owen
  • 👤 Paul Rissman

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-04 21:18
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10P; H10P95/00; B; B82; B82Y; B82Y10/00; B82Y40/00; H01; H01J; H01J37/00; H01J37/30; H01J37/317; H01J37/3174; H01J2237/00; H01J2237/30; H01J2237/317; H01J2237/3175; H01J2237/31769; H01J2237/31771

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim 101 words
A lithography method in which particles are directed to impinge on preselected regions of a surface of a workpiece to expose in the workpiece a preselected pattern, said particles producing in the workpiece a total exposure which is the sum of a desired forward exposure to generate the preselected pattern and an undesired backscattered exposure, characterized in that the method further comprises the step of exposing each pixel in the reverse field pattern with a flux of particles which produces in each of these pixels a total exposure that approximates the backscattered exposure produced in each pixel in the preselected regions.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 101 words
A lithography method in which particles are directed to impinge on preselected regions of a surface of a workpiece to expose in the workpiece a preselected pattern, said particles producing in the workpiece a total exposure which is the sum of a desired forward exposure to generate the preselected pattern and an undesired backscattered exposure, characterized in that the method further comprises the step of exposing each pixel in the reverse field pattern with a flux of particles which produces in each of these pixels a total exposure that approximates the backscattered exposure produced in each pixel in the preselected regions.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 88 words
A method according to claim 1 characterized in that the particles impinge on the workpiece in the form of a beam of particles and that the step of exposing each pixel of the reverse field pattern comprises the steps of: adjusting the beam so that at each portion of the workpiece exposed by the adjusted beam, the total exposure approximates the backscattered exposure; and . directing the adjusted beam to impinge on the regions of the workpiece contained in the reverse field pattern corresponding to said preselected pattern.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 46 words
A method according to claim 2 characterized in that the beam of particles is an electron beam and that the workpiece is a layer of resist which is coated on top of a substrate and which is exposed by the passage of electrons through the resist.
Claim 5
Independent Claim 29 words
A method according to either one of claims 2 and 3 characterized in that an intermediate electron absorbing layer is deposited between the layer of resist and the substrate.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 38 words
. 5. A method according to any one of claims 2 to 4 characterized in that the step of adjusting the beam comprises adjusting the width of the beam and the dose of charge impinging per unit area.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 52 words
A method according to claim 5 characterized in that the dose and beam width are adjusted so that the total energy per unit area deposited in the reverse field pattern by the adjusted beam equals the backscattered energy per unit area deposited in the preselected pattern during generation of the preselected pattern.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 21 words
A method according to claim 6 characterized in that the dose is adjusted by adjusting the current density of the beam.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 21 words
A method according to claim 6 characterized in that the dose is adjusted by adjusting the writing speed of the beam.

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