Microcolumns are widely used for parallel electron-beam lithography because of their compactness and the ability to achieve high spatial resolution. A design of an electrostatic microcolumn for our recent nanoscale photoemission sources is presented. We proposed a compact column structure (as short as several microns in length) for the ease of microcolumn fabrication and lithography operation. We numerically studied the influence of several design parameters on the optical performance such as microcolumn diameter, electrode thickness, beam current, working voltages, and working distance. We also examined the effect of fringing field between adjacent microcolumns during parallel lithography operations. The microcolumns were also fabricated to show the possibility.

Date Published: 22 March 2016
PDF: 13 pages
Proc. SPIE 9777, Alternative Lithographic Technologies VIII, 97771D (22 March 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2219218

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9777:
Alternative Lithographic Technologies VIII
Christopher Bencher, Editor(s)