Next Generation E-Beam Lithography and 3D Nanopattterning for Nanofabrication

Oxford's nanofabrication cleanroom (Fab@Oxford, https://fab.ox.ac.uk) hosts a suite of equipment supporting our large nanoscience community. It enables research developing new energy-efficient hardware for AI and Machine Learning; micro- and nano-devices/materials for photonics; experimental metamaterials; nanofluidic devices for ultrafast diagnostics; Micro- and Nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS) for sensing and actuation; and more.

As the number of users and their needs for more complex fabrication have expanded, we find that a large proportion of users require higher throughput and more reliable E-Beam lithography (EBL), as well as novel 3D nanoprinting capabilities to enable forefront research on interfaces between devices and systems.

For the EBL, the present tool has reached the point where it is no longer serviceable resulting in down-time of over five months. It has no advanced features such as autofocusing and is restricted to acceleration voltages of >50 kV resulting in long writing times, exacerbating time pressures on the tool - presently running nearly 24x7. The manufacturer's service contract has failed to cover most recent repairs, as engineers are not trained on such an old instrument. Resolutions approaching 30nm or below have also become very challenging due to the age of the tool. Thus, it is imperative that this underpinning workhorse tool be urgently replaced with a new state-of-the-art EBL to secure the delivery of the current £50M EPSRC research portfolio and continue pushing the community's ability to develop cutting-edge materials and nanoengineering.

Specifically, the new EBL will deliver:

Scan speed of up to 100MHz, enhancing throughput.
Auto calibration to achieve reliable, stable pattern writing for long periods of time.
Timing of auto correction to be set for each field or each pattern to allow long period writing without an operator, for example at weekends.
Potential to accommodate up to 300mmF wafer and up...