Why are dots and lines useful for EBL?

[Yinxiao Li]

Hi all, I am new to here and also new to EBL. I believe Electron Beam Lithography has a limit of sub-10 nms. Today when I draw a CAD file, I saw other than area, we can also draw line and dots. That doesn't make sense since there is a limitation on feature size and line width has to be at least bigger than that limit.
Is line and dot really useful in EBL writing?

 

[f95toli]

I am not sure what you are asking.
What do you mean by "dots" and "lines"?
It depends on the software and file format you are using, some people draw their masks using CAD software, saves it as DXF and then convert to GDS. If that procedure is used some converters will assume all closed polylines to be part of the pattern, and everything else "controls" the EBL. A good example would be to use different colours for dose modulation.
However, if you are using software specially made for lithography (say L-Edit), then lines and dots smaller than the minimum feature size make no sense unless they are just there as drawing aids and are removed before the mask is made.