Theoretical study of the ultimate resolution in electron beam lithography by Monte Carlo simulation, including secondary electron generation: Energy dissipation profile in polymethylmethacrylate

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Abstract
A new Monte Carlo simulation including generation of secondary electrons has been performed to study ultimate resolution in electron beam lithography. With respect to the simulations of inelastic scattering process of the primary electrons we used Gryzinski’s excitation function for single electron excitation processes, generating secondary electrons, while the inelastic mean free path proposed by Seah and Dench for organic material and energy loss spectrum obtained by Ritsko were used for simulating the inelastic scattering processes of the secondaries. The calculations were made to obtain energy dissipation profile for 20‐kV electrons, particularly, in the vicinity of the point of incidence on nanometer‐scale in 3000‐Å‐thick films of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) on a silicon substrate. The result clearly indicates that the secondary electrons play a most important role in determining the energy dissipation profile in the vicinity of the point of incidence, being the significant source of broadening of the energy dissipation profile. The blurring due to secondary electrons at the surface of the PMMA resist is of the order of 10 nm.