Effects of lithographic parameters in massively parallel electron-beam systems

The ability of electron-beam (e-beam) lithography to transfer fine features onto a substrate is essential in many applications where high-resolution devices need to be fabricated. However, its low throughput has been the major drawback, especially for transferring large-scale patterns such as optical masks. In order to overcome the drawback, e-beam machines with massively parallel beams were recently developed and their throughput improved by several orders of magnitude has been experimentally demonstrated. In this study, for the optimal use of such parallel-beam systems, the effects of lithographic parameters and faulty beams on the writing quality are analyzed. The metrics of writing quality include the exposure variation and contrast, the total dose required, the dose latitude, and the line edge roughness. The analysis results obtained through an extensive simulation are provided and discussed in this paper.