An electric field is applied below a resist to reduce proximity effects associated with electron beam scattering, thereby improving the resolution of features or lines written into the resist. Although the electrons in the electron beam can be very energetic (e.g., 10 keV), it is shown that even a small electric field can reduce the number of electrons that re-enter the resist material after being scattered in the substrate, and thus reduce the energy deposited in the resist from these electrons. One advantage of this technique is that high potentials and high fields are not required. Accordingly, the methods described can be applied to existing tooling with little modification to the electron beam system.