Space charge effects in projection charged particle lithography systems

Charged particle image projection lithography systems have been proposed and are currently under development for design rules of 0.18 mu m and below. Although charged particle projection lithography systems do not suffer from diffraction as a limit to spatial resolution as in photolithography, image degradation due to the effects of mutual repulsion of particles in the beam, space charge, will ultimately limit the performance of these systems. Space charge effects increase with increasing beam current. The uncorrectable image blur caused by space charge effectively reduces the dose latitude in projection charged particle lithography and therefore limits the ultimate throughput of such systems. We will describe the effects of space charge in charged particle projection lithography systems using a model we have previously developed. We will compare the predictions of the model with experimental data for an ion projection system and predict the performance of electron and ion beam systems under development. The predictions for image blur caused by space charge are used to calculate the dose latitude as a function of beam current and thus throughput for the SCALPEL(R) electron beam lithography system. (C) 1995 American Vacuum Society.