exposing a photoresist with electrons, it generally scans the electron beam across the photoresist in a programmed pattern, capable of very high resolution by varying the electron dose along pattern edges (referred to as proximity correction)
A method of fabricating sub-micron and nanoscale features by exposing electrically sensitive surfaces to an electron beam. The method is similar to photolithography, but uses electrons rather than photons. Since the wavelength of an electron is far smaller than that of a photon, diffraction is not a limit to the resolution. While EBL is more expensive and less parallel than photolithography, its resolution is higher and it is frequently used to create photolithographic masks.