Space charge effects in e-beam projection lithography

Coping with space charge effects is perhaps the major challenge for designers of high-throughput charged-particle projection-lithography systems. Coulomb interactions produce beam blur that depends on the beam current, linking the resolution and the throughput. The strength of that relationship is controlled by other system parameters. Understanding how the blur depends on the system parameters is essential for designing and optimizing the system for maximum throughput at a given resolution.