Dry e-beam etching of resist for optics

Abstract

Method of dry e-beam etching of resist (DEBER) is described. It appears that the method could be extremely useful for formation of wide range of structures for optics and optoelectronics. It is relatively simple to form diffraction or binary gratings, some diffractive optical elements (DOE), 3D structures or planar photonic crystals. Method could be realised in any focused e-beam induced process (FEBIP) system or in e-beam lithographer with minor modifications. DEBER method is significantly more productive than standard or grayscale e- beam lithography. Typical exposure time for 3x3.9 mm2 area is about 10-100 s. Examples of structures formed by the DEBER method that could be used in optoelectronics are presented.