ELECTRON-BEAM LITHOGRAPHY - PRESENT AND FUTURE

This paper reviews the current status of electron beam direct-writing lithography and presents its future issues. To improve the throughput and overlay accuracy, e-beam systems have undergone changes in beam sh ape and stage movement during these thirty years. The first systems ut ilized a Gaussian point beam and then the variable-shaped and cell pro jection beams appeared. The recent progress in proximity effect correc tion and resist process are remarkable. The effective throughput appro aches to around 10 wafers/h now and e-beam lithography is becoming pra ctical for quick turn-around time (QTAT) applications.