Hans C. Pfeiffer

Inventor of PREVAIL, IBM's E-Beam Projection approach for Next Generation Lithography, Pfeiffer was a physicist best known for his contributions to the development of electron beam lithography (often abbreviated as e-beam lithography), the practice of scanning a focused beam of electrons to draw custom shapes on a surface covered with an electron-sensitive film called a resist ("exposing"). Its primary advantage is that it can draw custom patterns (direct-write) with sub-10 nm resolution. This form of maskless lithography has high resolution and low throughput, limiting its usage to photomask fabrication, low-volume production of semiconductor devices, and research & development.

Pfeiffer received his Ph.D. from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany in 1967 and joined IBM the following year. During his career he established a world-class team and led the development of several generations of IBM's electron-beam lithography systems. He was recognized for building the industry's first shaped beam lithography systems. His work provided the technological base for IBM's five generations of high throughput exposure tools, EL-1 through EL-5.

Pfeiffer also pioneered PREVAIL, IBM's E-Beam Projection approach for Next Generation Lithography. His activities in electron optics, electron beam physics, and electron beam lithography were recorded in more than 130 publications and 27 issued or pending patents.

Elected an IBM Fellow in 1985, he received numerous other IBM awards for his inventions and for Outstanding Innovation, and was a member of the IBM Academy of Technology. Pfeiffer retired from IBM and subsequently worked as a consultant in the area of electron optics for lithography, inspection, and test. He served as a member of the Continuing Education Institute (CEI)-Europe Faculty from 1997.