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Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Single-Digit Nanometer Electron-Beam Lithography with an Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope
Published on: September 14, 2018
Single-Digit Nanometer Electron-Beam Lithography with an Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron
Fernando E Camino1, Vitor R Manfrinato2, Aaron Stein2
1Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory; fcamino@bnl.gov.
Abstract:
We demonstrate extension of electron-beam lithography using conventional resists and pattern transfer processes to single-digit nanometer dimensions by employing an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope as the exposure tool. Here, we present results of single-digit nanometer patterning of two widely used electron-beam resists: poly (methyl methacrylate) and hydrogen silsesquioxane. The method achieves sub-5 nanometer features in poly (methyl methacrylate) and sub-10 nanometer resolution in hydrogen silsesquioxane. High-fidelity transfer of these patterns into target materials of choice can be performed using metal lift-off, plasma etch, and resist infiltration with organometallics.
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