Atom lithography with metastable helium

Journal Article · Mon Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3295903· OSTI ID:21483617

Allred, Claire S; Reeves, Jason; Corder, Christopher; Metcalf, Harold ^[1]

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1. Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook. New York 11794-3800 (United States)

A bright metastable helium (He*) beam is collimated sequentially with the bichromatic force and three optical molasses velocity compression stages. Each He* atom in the beam has 20 eV of internal energy that can destroy a molecular resist assembled on a gold coated silicon wafer. Patterns in the resist are imprinted onto the gold layer with a standard selective etch. Patterning of the wafer with the He{sup *} was demonstrated with two methods. First, a mesh was used to protect parts of the wafer making an array of grid lines. Second, a standing wave of {lambda}=1083 nm light was used to channel and focus the He* atoms into lines separated by {lambda}/2. The patterns were measured with an atomic force microscope establishing an edge resolution of 80 nm. Our results are reliable and repeatable.

• OSTI ID: 21483617
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 107, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3295903; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
ATOMS
COMPRESSION
COOLING
EV RANGE
GOLD
HELIUM
LAYERS
METASTABLE STATES
RADIATION PRESSURE
RESOLUTION
SILICON
STANDING WAVES
VISIBLE RADIATION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY LEVELS
ENERGY RANGE
EXCITED STATES
FLUIDS
GASES
METALS
MICROSCOPY
NONMETALS
RADIATIONS
RARE GASES
SEMIMETALS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS