Fine-pitch control in EB lithography for semiconductor laser grating formation

Grating-pitch accuracy is studied from minimum pitch variation point of view. The pitches of the gratings delineated at the focus range from -50micrometers to +50micrometers and stitching errors between subfields are evaluated using an EB machine which features a long distance between the deflector and the wafer stage. The grating pitch variation is realized by using a deflection amplitude control. It is confirmed that errors of the pitches due to defocus are less than 0.05 nm, and the deviations from nominal setting of the pitch are also less than 0.1 nm when the pitches are varied from -6 percent to +6 percent at 0.1 percent step.