Self-powered near field electron lithography

Electron beam exposure is the tool of choice for highest resolution lithography but suffers from the low throughput during serial beam writing [T. Ito and S. Okazaki, Nature (London) 406, 1027 (2000); R. F. Pease and S. Y. Chou, Proc. IEEE 96, 248 (2008)]. The authors designed and developed a low-cost self-powered near-field electron lithography (SPEL) technique, which utilizes the spontaneously emitted energetic electrons from beta-emitting radioisotope thin films. This approach enables massively parallel e-beam lithography, with potentially arbitrarily large concurrently exposed surface area, controlled by the size of the radioactive source. This method potentially eliminates the need for vacuum systems and the electron focusing column as needed in the existing electron beam lithography systems. This will greatly simplify the overall lithographic system and reduce the cost of deep-subnanometer lithography. In SPEL system, emitted electrons are spatially blocked using a nanostenciled micromachined mask t...