Design considerations for a compact proton beam writing system aiming for fast sub-10Â nm direct write lithography

In order to realize sub-10 nm feature size by proton beam writing (PBW) with writing speed comparable to electron beam lithography (EBL), a 200 kV compact PBW system is proposed here. In this system, a new nano-aperture electron impact ion source with a potential reduced brightness of 106 A/(m2 srV) will be employed. To achieve sub-10 nm spot sizes with pA beam current, two different focusing lens configurations were evaluated. Both of these configurations were found to be theoretically capable of achieving sub-10 nm beam spot size.