ION PROJECTION LITHOGRAPHY FOR VACUUM MICROELECTRONICS

Ion projection lithography has the advantage of demagnifying ion-optical mask-to-wafer pattern transfer with sub-0.1 mum resolution and large depth of focus (> 10 mum). There is the possibility of electronic alignment (''pattern lock'') of the projected ion image on-line during chip exposure with nanometer precision. Potential application areas of ion projection lithography include high volume silicon and GaAs chip fabrication and, implementing exposure field stitching and electrostatic step exposure techniques, the manufacture of flat panel devices based on vacuum microelectronics.