[dermesser]

This is called electron beam writing, and is done routinely in research settings and to write the lithography masks, but does usually not have the required throughput for a production line. The upside of mask-based lithography is that all structures are exposed at once.

[javaunsafe2019]

Thank you for your answer - that’s why I thought about parallel beams in a big scale.

[dermesser]

A single beam column with the machine around it costs millions already, and takes quite some space. Wafers are simply not large enough to accommodate more than, I'd guess, two or three columns at the same time. Each with independent optics.

A somewhat simple 2x2 cm Si photonics Chip in my line of work takes about 24h exposure for two layers - a full scale wafer is hundreds of times larger, more complex, and has dozens of layers. The math, physics, and geometry just don't really work out (yet)

[ddkn435]

Thank you very much for your response and explanation. Und viele Grüße aus Hamburg.