ABSTRACT
The magnification of an optical microscope is at most 2000. On the other hand, an electron microscope using an accelerated electron beam can achieve several million magnification. Electrons can be focused into very fine points (O.ljim and less) and deflected by electrostatic and magnetic fields. They are scanned and controlled by a computer. It is natural to consider that one can obtain high resolution patterns using an accelerated electron beam instead of optical lithography. The experiment to confirm this idea, was started in the middle of the 1960s [1]. Another advantage of electron beam lithography over photolithography and x-ray lithography is its pattern generation capability. In both photolithography and x-ray lithography, masks for pattern transfer are fabricated using electron beam lithography. Even with these advantages, electron beam lithography suffers from long exposure time: low throughput.
