Recent progress of a character projection-type low-energy electron-beam direct writing system - art. no. 65172I

We have developed a Character Projection (CP)-type, low-energy Electron-Beam Direct Writing (EBDW) system for a quick turnaround time and mask-less device fabrication of small production lots with a variety of designs. The exposure time has been decreasing because the irradiation time of electrons is being reduced by development of high-sensitivity resist and by decrease in the number of EB shots with the CP method, and the amplifiers of the deflectors have attained specifications required by EBIS. In order to further increase the throughput, overhead time, that is, the exposure waiting time, must be shortened. This paper describes our strategy for reducing the exposure waiting time. The reduction ratio of the exposure waiting time was about 60% and the throughput was increased about 20%.