Editing Electron-beam lithography (section)

{{short description|Lithographic technique that uses a scanning beam of electrons}}
[[File:EB litograph.jpg|thumb|An example of Electron beam lithograph setup]]
'''Electron-beam lithography''' (often abbreviated as '''e-beam lithography''' or '''EBL''') is the practice of scanning a focused beam of [[electron]]s to draw custom shapes on a surface covered with an electron-sensitive film called a [[resist]] (exposing).<ref name="mccord">{{cite book |last1=McCord |first1=M A. |first2=M.J. |last2=Rooks |title=Microlithography |series=SPIE Handbook of Microlithography, Micromachining and Microfabrication |year=2000 |chapter=2. Electron beam lithography |chapter-url=http://www.cnf.cornell.edu/cnf_spietoc.html |volume=1 |access-date=2007-01-04 |archive-date=2019-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819183249/http://www.cnf.cornell.edu/cnf_spietoc.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The electron beam changes the [[solubility]] of the resist, enabling selective removal of either the exposed or non-exposed regions of the resist by immersing it in a [[solvent]] (developing). The purpose, as with [[photolithography]], is to create very small structures in the resist that can subsequently be transferred to the substrate material, often by [[Etching (microfabrication)|etching]].

The primary advantage of electron-beam lithography is that it can draw custom patterns (direct-write) with sub-10&nbsp;[[Nanometre|nm]] resolution. This form of [[maskless lithography]] has high resolution but low throughput, limiting its usage to [[photomask]] fabrication, low-volume production of [[Semiconductor device|semiconductor devices]], and [[research and development]].