E-Beam Lithography with Alignment Gating

An electron-beam (e-beam) lithography system, comprising:

• an e-beam source to generate an e-beam;
• an alignment gate being operable to modulate an intensity of the e-beam to an alternating e-beam;
• a digital pattern generator (DPG) having pixels configured in an array to generate an e-beam pattern from the alternating e-beam;
• a substrate stage designed to secure a substrate and being operable to move the substrate;
• and
• an e-beam lens module configured to project the e-beam pattern on the substrate.

A lithography process, comprising:

• coating a resist layer on a substrate;
• exposing the resist layer by an e-beam lithography system that includes
• an e-beam source to generate an e-beam;
• an alignment gate being operable to modulate an intensity of the e-beam to an alternating e-beam;
• and
• a digital pattern generator (DPG) having pixels configured in an array to generate an e-beam pattern from the alternating e-beam;
• and
• developing the resist layer to form a patterned resist layer.