Grayscale e-beam lithography: Effects of a delayed development for well-controlled 3D patterning

Grayscale electron beam lithography (g-EBL) is a fabrication technique that allows for tunable control of resist topography. In most cases, the height of the structures is in the submicron regime. Here, we present an extensive experimental characterization of the post electron beam exposure behavior...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMicroelectronic engineering Vol. 225; p. 111272
Main Authors Mortelmans, Thomas, Kazazis, Dimitrios, Guzenko, Vitaliy A., Padeste, Celestino, Braun, Thomas, Stahlberg, Henning, Li, Xiaodan, Ekinci, Yasin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 15.03.2020
Elsevier BV
Subjects
3-D technology
3D microstructuring
Delayed development
Electron beam lithography
Electrons
Exposure
Gray scale
Grayscale e-beam lithography
Micrometers
Microstructure
Offset printing
PMMA 950 K
Polymethyl methacrylate
Post-exposure bake
Time dependence
3D microstructuring
Delayed development
Post-exposure bake
Grayscale e-beam lithography
PMMA 950 K
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Summary:Grayscale electron beam lithography (g-EBL) is a fabrication technique that allows for tunable control of resist topography. In most cases, the height of the structures is in the submicron regime. Here, we present an extensive experimental characterization of the post electron beam exposure behavior of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) 950 K for grayscale structuring with several micrometers in height. The obtained results show that the development depth for the same electron dose is dependent on the time between exposure and development. This dependence becomes more prominent at higher exposure doses. Additionally, it was found that a post-exposure bake influences the dose-response behavior of the resist material and, therefore, also the obtained three-dimensional (3D) structure. This work paves the way for well-controlled 3D micrometer structuring via g-EBL. [Display omitted] •Grayscale e-beam lithography is used for the fabrication of three-dimensional structures with several micrometers in height.•The contrast curve of PMMA 950K depends on the time between e-beam exposure and development.•The change of the contrast curve over time can be described by a unifying exponential fit function.•A post-exposure bake influences the dose-response behavior of PMMA (950 K).
ISSN:0167-9317
1873-5568
DOI:10.1016/j.mee.2020.111272