High Throughput 16 NM Nanogap by Variable Shaped Beam Method Using F7000S-VD02 EB Lithography

Reliable fabrication of 1X nm nanogaps is an essential prerequisite for nanophotonics, nanodevices. A variable shaped beam (VSB)/ character projection (CP) based electron beam writer, F7000S-VD02 is a unique system with rectangular/arbitrary shape shots and exhibits considerably high throughput. Proximity effect correction (PEC) allows for the calculation of dose variation inside patterns, but due to the uniform dose in each shot using VSB/CP system, it is difficult to realize nanogaps even though PEC is used. To overcome this challenge, we have proposed concave patterns by analyzing residual bridges between the gap and have realized a 16 nm gap with a negative EB resist for the first time.