On proximity exposure compensation in electron-beam lithography

The limit of proximity exposure compensation in electron-beam lithography by a dose-correlation technique is pointed out. It is shown that the electron energy dissipation (EED) distribution in the resist plays an important role in achieving this limiting condition. Simulation of resist profiles in isolated and closely spaced near-micrometer line patterns shows that the resist edge slope after proximity exposure compensation approaches a limiting slope set by the composite effect of the EED distribution, the beam size, the beam spacing, and the beam shape