Ion-beam shadow printing through thin silicon foils using channeling

A masking concept for ion-beam shadow printing is described. Resist layers have been exposed through thin single-crystal silicon foils in the channeling direction, using a collimated helium beam with an initial energy of 300–2000 keV. The masking technique employs the dechanneling effect of a thin metal layer as well as the difference in energy loss for random and for channeling directions. The method is suitable for the replication of high-resolution structures using proximity exposure.