Guidelinesfor Ebeam Litho - Docx

Guidelines for E-beam Lithography
I. PMMA coating
1. First, clean the sample.
2. Program a spin-coating recipe. Refer to (http://www.microchem.com/pdf/

PMMA_Data_Sheet.pdf)
a. Type: PMMA e-beam resist
b. Solvent: in anisol
c. RPM: For Example, 950PMMA A resists A4 → 4000rpm gives ~200nm
3. Put the sample on the spin coater.
4. Choose the program and put PMMA resist on to the sample.
5. Start spinning to coat.
6. Prebake
a. Set temperature of a hotplate to 180°C (356 °F)
Please be very careful with hotplate setting: well calibrate the
setting and actual temperature for the best result. For example, when
using the yellow #1 hotplate, set the temperature to 225°C. This give the
final temperature 180°C on top of glass slide.
b. Make sure that the hotplate is covered with Al foil and several slide
glasses should be on the hotplate. The sample will be on the slide glass.
c. Time: 90 seconds
NOTE: If the sample is not conducting (for instance: SiO2 substrate...), 10nm of
Chromium should be deposited on top of PMMA for discharge.
II. Ebeam writing

1. Mount the sample tightly on the holder and become familiar how to find critical
spots from the sample (alignment markers etc.). It is recommended to use
diamond tip to scratch 3 or 4 lines around the sample and 1 long line from the
edge to center of sample where the writing area will be .
2. Load sample in the chamber (make sure you check stage movement direction
that you eventually find the right spot).
3. Disable O2 plasma before pumping down the vacuum.
4. Move close to gold sample and turn the beam on (30 kV), and set beam current
as you desire, for example 0.17nA.
5. Turn on Pico Ammeter, and push ZCHK button.
6. Look for Au sample but be careful that the beam does not hit your sample.
7. Focus roughly on AU surface → Link Z → set working distance (WD) at 6 mm.

Make sure that sample/holder does not hit to the electron gun tip. If the initial WD
is large you may have to do this twice and Unlink Z in between.
8. Check Crossover → the beam should be uniformly around the center mark.
9. Optimize beam (Stigmation X & Y, focus, and aperture alignment) to give the
best possible image from Au sample. Refer the FIB manual if you need.
a. Set focus and stigmation roughly and use the focus wobbling mode
(column adjustment menu) to align the aperture, i.e. minimize the
movement created by wobbling. Choose “E-column:UI Adjustment” and
click to mark on “HV modulator”. In order to see the wobbling image
better, set the scanning speed to 300ns and amplitude to 0.04. To adjust,
click the small square in Lens Alignment Box.
b. Make final optimization using stigmation and focus knobs.
10. Use Pg-optimize software (NPGS) to fine adjust stigmation and focus. Before
opening the software repeat Unlink Z and Link Z and set the WD at 6 mm once
more. To check whether the WD is set to be 6mm, click “get SEM info” button in
NPGS program. Repeat this step at least twice to make sure that the WD is really
set to 6mm. After optimization do not touch stigmation anymore. (Sometimes,
even though you click “Center”, the image does not go back to the original state.
Then, check the WD and set it to 6mm before moving on to Pg-optimize step.
a. Step size: 0.002 (Focus), 0.1 (Stig X and Y)
11. Look for Faraday cup in order to measure the beam current. Zoom in the image
until the whole image looks black. Usually, when the scale bar becomes 20um,
the image shows only black screen. Record the measured value in your personal
notebook and the NPGS software.
12. Move to the edge of your sample (If you mounted the sample same as before,
move to the right to see the edge of the sample) and find an alignment marker or
dust. Usually, the size of particles used for fine-focusing, should be an order of
0.5um in size.
a. If your sample is roughly on the same height as the gold sample you used
for the beam optimization → use focus knobs to bring the beam in focus.
b. If your sample surface is on a different height as the gold → Unlink Z →
adjust stage manually until you roughly find the focus → do the fine tuning
with fine focus knob. Before adjusting the stage manually, record the “z”
position of the stage not to be lost. For safety reason, move the stage
down first. If the down-direction is not the correct way of focusing, then
slowly move the stage up. Always be careful when you move the stage
upward. Watch the “z” position of the stage.
13. Do the xT alignment. This makes the position of the sample vertical. When you
do a multiple writing on one substrate, this procedure is necessary. If you skip
this procedure, the alignment of the sample may not remain orthogonal, which
may cause wrong writing. You may end up with nothing after E-beam writing. For
accurate xT alignment, zoom out all the way to see a large area of the sample.
14. Choose Command → Direct stage control.

a. Ignore rotational control
b. Inquire new data
c. Set new points (at least 3) at the surroundings of the area you are going
write. Make sure the beam is in good focus for every point. The final point
is good to choose nearby the point you start actual writing.
d. Hit ESC to quit after acquiring enough number of points. (Do not send
command stage)
e. Approve to use of the new data.
15. Design a RUN file.
16. Turn on external scanning mode – EXT E SCAN – (and beam blanker). Then you
will see the screen image goes to WHITE. So, don’t be panic.
17. Choose a Run file to write and choose Exposure Scale. Type the beam current(in
pA unit) in “Beam Current” blank.
18. Start writing.
19. After finishing writing, turn off the beam and vent the chamber. Then click the
ZCHK button of the picoAm meter again for zero check.
20. Turn off External E Scan button and close the NPGS software
21. Unload the sample from the chamber and pump it down.
III. Developing
NOTE: If sample is coated with Chromium, we have to etch Chromium away before
developing.
1. Chromium etching
a. Prepare two beakers. One for Chromium etchant and other one for DI
water. Using Etchant 1020AC.
b. Etch time: 5-10 seconds (The sample should be transparent)
c. Rinse the sample in DI water.
d. Dry the sample.
2. Developing
a. Developer: MIBK:IPA (1:3)
b. Time: 65 Seconds
c. Rinse the sample in IPA
3. Dry the sample.

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Guidelines for E-beam Lithography

1. First, clean the sample.

2. Program a spin-coating recipe. Refer to (http://www.microchem.com/pdf/

3. Put the sample on the spin coater.

4. Choose the program and put PMMA resist on to the sample.

5. Start spinning to coat.

II. Ebeam writing

5. Turn on Pico Ammeter, and push ZCHK button.

7. Focus roughly on AU surface → Link Z → set working distance (WD) at 6 mm.

14. Choose Command → Direct stage control.

15. Design a RUN file.

18. Start writing.

3. Dry the sample.

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