title: High speed e-beam writing for large area photonic nanostructures - a choice of parameters.
abstract: Photonic nanostructures are used for many optical systems and applications. However, some high-end applications require the use of electron-beam lithography (EBL) to generate such nanostructures. An important technological bottleneck is the exposure time of the EBL systems, which can exceed 24 hours per 1 cm(2). Here, we have developed a method based on a target function to systematically increase the writing speed of EBL. As an example, we use as the target function the fidelity of the Fourier Transform spectra of nanostructures that are designed for thin film light trapping applications, and optimize the full parameter space of the lithography process. Finally, we are able to reduce the exposure time by a factor of 5.5 without loss of photonic performance. We show that the performances of the fastest written structures are identical to the original ones within experimental error. As the target function can be varied according to different purposes, the method is also applicable to guided mode resonant grating and many other areas. These findings contribute to the advancement of EBL and point towards making the technology more attractive for commercial applications.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics, Sun-Yat Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China.|Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
authors.forename: Kezheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics, Sun-Yat Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China.
authors.forename: Juntao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reardon
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
authors.forename: Christian S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
authors.forename: Graham J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Triggs
authors.affiliation: Raith Service &Support Team, Raith GmbH, 44263, Germany.
authors.forename: Niklas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Damnik
authors.affiliation: Raith Service &Support Team, Raith GmbH, 44263, Germany.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Müenchenberger
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics, Sun-Yat Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China.
authors.forename: Xuehua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering of São Carlos, University of São Paulo, Av. Trabalhador Sãocarlense, 400, São Carlos-SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Emiliano R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Krauss