Electron-beam lithography for the magnetic recording industry: fabrication of nanoscale (10 nm) thin-film read heads
The magnetic recording industry is evaluating electron-beam lithography for magnetoresistive thin-film head production due to the rapid convergence of critical dimensions in thin-film heads with the semiconductor industry's lithography roadmap. In this paper, the fabrication of nanoscale (10 nm generation), contiguous-junction thin-film read heads by electron-beam lithography and hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) resist processing is described. The minimum resolution of the HSQ resist process and the critical parameters, such as exposure dose and delay times, that would require tight control in a production environment in order to yield acceptable linewidth uniformity, both within a single wafer and from wafer to wafer, are presented. This combination of electron-beam lithography and HSQ resist processing provides the magnetic recording industry with the unprecedented ability to fabricate and test thin-film heads at nanoscale dimensions that are almost a decade ahead of its roadmap. It will permit early evaluation of magnetic recording heads for the Terabit per square inch regime and beyond.
electron-beam lithography magnetoresistive thin-film head