Fabrication of miniaturized electrostatic deflectors using LIGA
- Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., CA (United States); and others
Miniaturized electron beam columns ({open_quotes}microcolumns{close_quotes}) have been demonstrated to be suitable candidates for scanning electron microscopy (SEM), e-beam lithography and other high resolution, low voltage applications. In the present technology, microcolumns consist of {open_quotes}selectively scaled{close_quotes} micro-sized lenses and apertures, fabricated from silicon membranes with e-beam lithography, reactive ion beam etching and other semiconductor thin-film techniques. These miniaturized electron-optical elements provide significant advantages over conventional optics in performance and ease of fabrication. Since lens aberrations scale roughly with size, it is possible to fabricate simple microcolumns with extremely high brightness sources and electrostatic objective lenses, with resolution and beam current comparable to conventional e-beam columns. Moreover since microcolumns typically operate at low voltages (1 KeV), the proximity effects encountered in e-beam lithography become negligible. For high throughput applications, batch fabrication methods may be used to build large parallel arrays of microcolumns. To date, the best reported performance with a 1 keV cold field emission cathode, is 30 nm resolution at a working distance of 2mm in a 3.5mm column. Fabrication of the microcolumn deflector and stigmator, however, have remained beyond the capabilities of conventional machining operations and semiconductor processing technology. This work examines the LIGA process as a superior alternative to fabrication of the deflectors, especially in terms of degree of miniaturization, dimensional control, placement accuracy, run-out, facet smoothness and choice of suitable materials. LIGA is a combination of deep X-ray lithography, electroplating, and injection molding processes which allow the fabrication of microstructures.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00098
- OSTI ID:
- 604281
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL--39981; ON: DE97007345
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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