A process for fabricating an integrated circuit is provided. The process includes providing a substrate, forming a hard mask upon the substrate by one of atomic-layer deposition and molecular-layer deposition, and exposing the hard mask to a charged particle from one or more charged particle beams to pattern a gap in the hard mask. In the alternative, the process includes exposing the hard mask to a charged particle from one or more charged-particle beams to pattern a structure on the hard mask.