Aperture-edge scattering in MeV ion-beam lithography. II. Scattering from a rectangular aperture

The capability of collimators to define beams of MeV ions with sub-100 nm dimensions has recently been demonstrated. Such nanometer beams have potential applications in MeV ion-beam lithography, which is the only maskless technique capable of producing extremely high aspect-ratio micro- and nanostructrures, as well as in high resolution MeV ion-beam imaging. Ion scattering from the collimator edges can be a resolution-restricting factor in these applications. Scattering processes at edges are difficult to study using conventional simulation codes because of the complicated geometry. In this part of our work, the authors used the GEANT4 toolkit as a simulation tool for studying the behavior of beams of 3 MeV He ions with 0.2-1 mrad divergence impinging onto the programmable proximity aperture comprising four 100-mu m-thick Ta plates. The transmission and scattering from the aperture are asymmetric due to the aperture design. For a perfectly parallel beam, the fluence of ions scattered from the aperture edges is spread over large areas. The enhancement of the fluence from the edge-scattered ions is two to three orders of magnitude smaller compared to the incident-beam fluence. Therefore, the edge scattering is not a resolution-restricting factor, and the sub-100 nm resolution is achievable. However, for diverging beams, the significant penumbra broadening of the beam spots restricts the attainable resolution. In lithography applications, the halo associated with penumbra broadening causes pattern edge roughening by producing single ion tracks in close vicinity to the pattern element edges.