100 kV Schottky electron gun

We present a comparison between experimental results and computer calculations on a high current, high resolution single lens electrostatic 100 kV Schottky electron gun. One promising application for such an electron gun is for direct electron‐beam patterning of x‐ray masks. The high energy helps provide precise patterning of the thick resist, maintains vertical resist profiles, and minimizes the proximity effect. The gun was designed to operate from 25 to 100 kV, capable of focus at a distance of 145–245 mm with a magnification of 1.15. The emitter, of apex radius ∼0.6 μm operated at 1800 K in the extended Schottky regime, provides an angular intensity of 0.5 mA/sr for an extraction voltage of 5000 V and with a beam limiting aperture of 2.2 mrad, the gun delivers 7 nA of probe current. The gun consists of a replaceable high voltage optic module mounted on a precision insulator with the main acceleration occurring between the exit of the optic module and the grounded anode. A provision is made for alignment of the emitter with respect to the central optical axis of the optic module in a special alignment chamber eliminating the need for high voltage emitter alignment. Final gun alignment is achieved by X–Y motion of the grounded anodeaperture. The gun is constructed to allow ease of replacement of the emitter, the beam defining aperture, and the differential pumping aperture. The beam supply has 10 ppm of ripple while lens supplies have supply, cabling, connectors,insulator, and optic module draw 1 μA of ground leakage current. Pressured SF6 chambers are used for high voltage connector interfaces within the power supply and on the gun

Evaluation of OPC Mask Printing with a Raster Scan Pattern Generator

MEBES ® 50 kV mask pattern generators use Raster Graybeam ™ writing, providing an effective grid that is 32 × finer than the print grid. The electron beam size and print pixel size are variable between 60 nm and 120 nm, allowing a tradeoff between resolution and write time. Raster scan printing optimizes throughput by transferring precisely the amount of data to the mask that is consistent with the chosen resolution. As with other raster output devices, mask write times are not affected by pattern complexity. This paper examines the theoretical performance of Raster Graybeam for model-based optical proximity correction (OPC) patterns and provides examples of mask patterning performance. A simulation tool is used to model the MEBES eXara ™ system writing strategy, which uses four writing passes, interstitial print grids, offset scans, and eight dose levels per pass. It is found that Raster Graybeam produces aerial image quality equivalent to the convolution of the input pattern data with a Gaussian point spread function. Resolution of 90 nm is achieved for equal lines and spaces, supporting subresolution assist features. Angled features are a particular strength of raster scan patterning, with feature quality and write time that are independent of feature orientation