Measuring and modeling the proximity effect in direct-write electron-beam lithography kinoforms.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Physics

Background:

• Direct-write electron-beam lithography (EBL) is crucial for fabricating nanostructures.
• Understanding proximity effects is essential for precise pattern replication in EBL.
• Successively developed gratings present a unique system to study these effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the proximity effect in direct-write EBL gratings.
• To determine the parameters of the point-spread function governing the proximity effect.
• To analyze the influence of development time on different components of the point-spread function.

Main Methods:

• Measurement of diffraction orders from EBL-fabricated gratings.
• Analysis of grating relief shapes derived from diffraction power.
• Modeling the proximity effect using a double Gaussian point-spread function.

Main Results:

• Grating relief shapes were successfully determined from diffraction measurements.
• The point-spread function parameters were accurately extracted.
• A significant increase in the writing component of the point-spread function was observed with longer development times.

Conclusions:

• Development time is a critical factor influencing the proximity effect in EBL.
• The writing and background components of the point-spread function exhibit different sensitivities to development time.
• This study provides quantitative insights into proximity effect mitigation strategies in EBL.