Nanolithography Developed Through Electron Beam Induced Surface Reaction

ABSTRACTNanolithography has been studied by using electron beam technology. Ten-nm linewidth PMMA resist patterns have been demonstrated by 50 kV scanning electron beam. The self-developing properties of a AlF3 doped LiF inorganic resist under a scanning electron beam irradiation with energy of 20–50 keV have been studied for sub-10 nm lithography. By optimizing the inorganic resist film quality, 5 nm linewidth patterns with 60 nm periodicity were directly delineated under a 30 keV electron beam. Another approach for nanolithography using electron beam holography has been proposed. Line and dot patterns with 100 nm periodicity were exposed on PMMA resist by electron beam holography with thermal field emitter gun and an electron biprism. Subsequent atomic force microscope observation has confirmed that both patterns are successfully fabricated. This technique allows us to produce nanoscale periodic patterns simultaneously. The selective atomic desorption of Cl atoms adsorbed on a Si (111) 7×7 surface has been studied by field evaporation using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The STM tip is placed on the adsorbed Cl on the surface, and pulse voltage was applied. This results in selective atomic desorption of Cl.