Proximity effect correction concerning forward scattering

The Proximity Effect is a critical problem in EB Lithography which is used in Photomask writing. Proximity Effect means that an electron shot by gun scatters by collided with resist molecule or substrate atom causes CD variation depending on pattern density [1]. Scattering by collision with resist molecule is called as "forward scattering", that affects in dozens of nanometer range, and with substrate atom is called as "backward scattering, that affects approximately 10 micrometer in 50keV acceleration voltage respectively. In conventional Proximity Effect Correction (PEC) for mask writing, we don't need to think forward scattering effect. However we should think about forward scattering because of smaller feature size. We have proposed a PEC software product named "PATACON PC-Cluster"[2], which can concern forward scattering and calculate optimum dose modulation. In this communication, we explain the PEC processing throughput when the that takes forward scattering into account. The key technique is to use different processing field size for forward scattering calculation. Additionally, the possibility is shown that effective PEC may be available by connecting forward scattering and backward scattering.