Electron-beam lithography for microcircuit fabrication

Electron beams are being used to make new generations of solid-state devices with critical dimensions that are less than 1 ¿m. Using the technique, device designers are able to overcome many of the performance limits that have been set by the conventional methods of fabrication where ultraviolet light is shone through a mask to define a pattern on photosensitive resist. The minimum practical dimension in light-exposure systems is usually greater than 1 ¿m although the fundamental limit set by the diffraction of light is somewhat less. In comparison the limit using electron-beam techniques is much less than 1 ¿m, so that one can expect substantial improvements in the specifications of surface-acoustic-wave devices, microwave transistors, narrow-gate field-effect transistor and high-density large-scale-integration devices once the techniques of electron-beam lithography are fully established