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For commercial applications, electron beam lithography is usually produced using dedicated beam writing systems that are very expensive (>$2M USD). For research applications, it is very common to produce electron beam lithography using an electron microscope with a home-made or relatively low cost lithography accessory. Such systems have produced linewidths of ~20 nm since at least 1990, while current systems have produced linewidths on the order of 10 nm or smaller. These smallest features have generally been isolated features, as nested features exacerbate the proximity effect, whereby electrons from exposure of an adjacent feature spill over into the exposure of the currently written feature, effectively enlarging its image, and reducing its contrast, i.e., difference between maximum and minimum intensity. Hence, nested feature resolution is harder to control. For most resists, it is difficult to go below 25 nm lines and spaces, and a limit of 20 nm lines and spaces has been found.
With today's electron optics, electron beam widths can routinely go down to a few nm. This is limited mainly by aberrations and space charge. However, the practical resolution limit is determined not by the beam size but by forward scattering in the photoresist and secondary electron travel in the photoresist. The forward scattering can be decreased by using higher energy electrons or thinner photoresist, but the generation of secondary electrons is inevitable. The travel distance of secondary electrons is not a fundamentally derived physical value, but a statistical parameter often determined from many experiments or Monte Carlo simulations down to <>
In addition to secondary electrons, primary electrons from the incident beam with sufficient energy to penetrate the photoresist can be multiply scattered over large distances from underlying films and/or the substrate. This leads to exposure of areas at a significant distance from the desired exposure location. These electrons are called backscattered electrons and have the same effect as long-range flare in optical projection systems. A large enough dose of backscattered electrons can lead to complete removal of photoresist in the desired pattern area.
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