Earticle

We have investigated experimentally a nano patterning using electron beam lithography for the nickel stamper fabrication. Recently, DVD and Blu-ray disk(BD) have nano-scale patterns in order to increase the storage density. Specially, BD has 100nm-scale patterns which are generally fabricated by electron beam lithography. In this paper, we found optimum condition of electron-beam lithography for 100nm-scale patterning. We controlled various conditions of EHP(acceleration voltage), beam current, dose and aperture size in order to obtain optimum conditions. We used 100nm-thick PMMA layer on a silicon wafer as photoresist. We found that EHP was the most dominant factor in electron-beam lithography.

This report covers an effective fabrication method of graphene nanoribbon for top-gated field effect transistors (FETs) utilizing electron beam lithography with a bi-layer resists (XR-1541/poly methtyl methacrylate) process. To improve the variation of the gating properties of FETs, the residues of an e beam resist on the graphene channel are successfully taken off through the combination of reactive ion etching and a lift-off process for the XR-1541 bi-layer. In order to identify the presence of graphene structures, atomic force microscopy measurement and Raman spectrum analysis are performed. We believe that the lift-off process with bi-layer resists could be a good solution to increase gate dielectric properties toward the high quality of graphene FETs.

A focusing grating coupler (FGC) was not fabricated by the 'Continuous Path Control'writing strategy but by an electron-beam lithography system of more general exposure mode, which matches not only the address grid with the grating period but also an integer multiple of the address grid resolution (5 nm). To more simplify the fabrication, we are able to reduce a process step without large decrease of pattern quality by excluding a conducting material or layer such as metal (Al, Cr, Au), which are deposited on top or bottom of an e-beam resist to prevent charge build-up during e-beam exposure. A grating pitch period and an aperture feature size of the FGC designed and fabricated by e-beam lithography and reactive ion etching were ranged over 384.3 nm to 448.2 nm, and 0.5 $\times$ 0.5 mm$^2$area, respectively. This fabrication method presented will reduce processing time and improve the grating quality by means of a consideration of the address grid resolution, grating direction, pitch size and shapes when exposing. Here our investigations concentrate on the design and efficient fabrication results of the FGC for coupling from slab waveguide to a spot in free space.

This study describes a method where the match of two different length scales, i.e., the patterns from self-assembled block copolymer (<50 nm) and electron beam writing (>50 nm), allow the nanometer scale pattern mask. The method is based on using block copolymers containing a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) block, which is subject to be decomposed under an electron beam, as a pattern resist for electron beam lithography. Electron beam on self assembled block copolymer thin film selectively etches PMMA microdomains, giving rise to a polymeric nano-pattern mask on which subsequent evaporation of chromium produces the arrays of Cr nanoparticles followed by lifting off the mask. Furthermore, electron beam lithography was performed on the micropatterned block copolymer film fabricated by micro-imprinting, leading to a hierarchical self assembled pattern where a broad range of length scales was effectively assembled, ranging from several tens of nanometers, through submicrons, to a few microns.

The aim of this paper is to describe the development of the electron-beam optic analysis algorithm for simulating the e-beam behavior concerned with electrostatic lenses and their focal properties in the micro-column of the multi-beam lithography system. The electrostatic lens consists of an array of electrodes held at different potentials. The electrostatic lens, the so-called einzel lens, which is composed of three electrodes, is used to focus the electron beam by adjusting the voltages of the electrodes. The optics of an electron beam penetrating a region of an electric field is similar to the situation in light optics. The electron is accelerated or decelerated, and the trajectory depends on the angle of incidence with respect to the equi-potential surfaces of the field. The performance parameters, such as the working distances and the beam diameters are obtained by the computational simulations as a function of the focusing voltages of the einzel lens electrodes. Based on the developed simulation algorithm, the high performance of the micro-column can be achieved through optimized control of the einzel lens.

In this paper, we have proposed a novel process using two-step electron beam lithography to fabricate 20 nm T-gates for high performance MODFETs. Two-step lithography reduces electron forward scattering by defining the foot on a thin (100 nm) bottom-layer of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) at the second step, the T-gate head having been developed at the first step. Adopting a low temperature development technique for the second step reduces the detrimental effect of head exposure on foot definition. We have shown that 20 nm T-gate can be patterned with this process.

This paper discusses the surface roughness of negative chemically amplified resists, SAL601 exposed by I-beam direct writing. system. Surface roughness, as measured by atomic force microscopy, have been simulated and compared to experimental results. Molecular-scale simulator predicts the roughness dependence on material properties and process conditions. A chemical amplification is made to occur in the resists during PEB process. Monte-Carlo and exposure simulations are used as the same program as before. However, molecular-scale PEB simulation has been remodeled using a two-dimensional molecular lattice representation of the polymer matrix. Changes in surface roughness are shown to correlate with the dose of exposure and tile baking time of PEB process. The result of simulation has a similar tendency with that of experiment.

A computationally efficient and accurate Monte Carlo (MC) simulator of electron beam lithography process, which is named SCNU-EBL, has been developed for semiconductor nanometer pattern design and fabrication. The simulator is composed of a MC simulation model of electron trajectory into solid targets, an Gaussian-beam exposure simulation model, and a development simulation model of photoresist using a string model. Especially for the trajectories of incident electrons into the solid targets, the inner-shell electron scattering of an target atom and its discrete energy loss with an incident electron is efficiently modeled for multi-layer resists and heterogeneous multi-layer targets. The simulator was newly applied to the development profile simulation of ZEP520 positive photoresist for NGL(Next-Generation Lithography). The simulation of ZEP520 for electron-beam nanolithography gave a reasonable agreement with the SEM experiments of ZEP520 photoresist.

We present a facile, yet versatile carbon nanofabrication method using electron beam lithography and resist pyrolysis. Various resist nanopatterns were fabricated using a negative electron beam resist, SAL-601, and were then subjected to heat treatment in an inert atmosphere to obtain carbon nanopatterns. Suspended carbon nanostructures were fabricated by wet-etching of an underlying sacrificial oxide layer. Free-standing carbon nanostructures, which contain 122 nm-wide, 15 nm-thick, and 2 ${\mu}m$-long nanobridges, were fabricated by resist pyrolysis and nanomachining processes. Electron beam exposure dose effects on resist thickness and pattern widening were studied. The thickness of the carbon nanostructures was thinned down by etching with oxygen plasma. An electrical biosensor utilizing carbon nanostructures as a conducting channel was studied. Conductance modulations of the carbon device due to streptavidin-biotin binding and pH variations were observed.

We have developed a Monte Carlo (MC) simulator for electron beam lithography in multi-layer resists and multi-layer substrates in order to fabricate and develop high-speed PHEMT devices for millimeter- wave applications. For the deposited energy calculation to multi-layer resists by electron beam in MC simulation, we modeled newly for multi-layer resists and heterogeneous multi-layer substrates. Using this model, we simulated T-gate or r-gate fabrication process in PHEMT device and showed our results with SEM observations.

The high vacuum in a electron beam lithography is basic condition, because electron beam vanish by collision with air molecules in generally atmosphere. To make high vacuum state, the vacuum control valve is essential. Most vacuum control valve are manual units. So, user of manual vacuum valve must have understanding vacuum process to change from low vacuum to high vacuum state. The user of electron beam lithography are troubled with operation of manual vacuum valve, in case the vacuum chamber is frequently open. In this paper, the design and performance test of auto vacuum control valve for electron beam lithography are described. With the auto vacuum control valve, the high vacuum level can reach 2.8E-5 Torr.

We report our development of the fabrication process of sub-micron scale $Al-AlO_x-Al$ tunnel junction by using electron-beam lithography and double-angle shadow evaporation technique. We used double-layer resist to construct a suspended bridge structure, and double-angle electron-beam evaporation to form a sub-micron scale overlapped junction. We adopted an e-beam insensitive resist as a bottom sacrificing layer. Tunnel barrier was formed by oxidation of the bottom aluminum layer between the bottom and top electrode deposition, which was done in a separate load-lock chamber. The junction resistance is designed and controlled to be 50 $\Omega$ to match the impedance of the transmission line. The junctions will be used in the broadband shot noise thermometry experiment, which will serve as a link between the electrical unit and the thermodynamic unit.