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arXiv:1703.09941 · Physical Review Applied

Optimal Design of Grid-Based Binary Holograms for Matter-Wave Lithography

Torstein Nesse, Jean-Philippe Banon, Bodil Holst, Ingve Simonsen

Published Aug 17, 2017• 9 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Due to their very short de Broglie wavelengths, matter waves could be used for high-resolution patterning, competing with $e.g.$ e-beam or helium-ion lithography for producing features smaller than 10 nm. Binary holography is presently the only method available for mask-based atom lithography, but its theoretical framework has remained quite limited. The authors present an optimal method for making binary holograms that can shape atom beams arbitrarily, allowing for free selection of the geometrical properties of the generated masks, and the resulting structures.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.8.024011

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Due to their very short de Broglie wavelengths, matter waves could be used for high-resolution patterning, competing with e.g.e.g.e.g. e-beam or helium-ion lithography for producing features smaller than 10 nm. Binary holography is presently the only method available for mask-based atom lithography, but its theoretical framework has remained quite limited. The authors present an optimal method for making binary holograms that can shape atom beams arbitrarily, allowing for free selection of the geometrical properties of the generated masks, and the resulting structures.
Mask-based pattern generation is a crucial step in microchip production. The next-generation extreme-ultraviolet- (EUV) lithography instruments with a wavelength of 13.5 nm are currently under development. In principle, this should allow patterning down to a resolution of a few nanometers in a single exposure. However, there are many technical challenges, including those due to the very high energy of the photons. Lithography with metastable atoms has been suggested as a cost-effective, less-complex alternative to EUV lithography. The great advantage of atom lithography is that the kinetic energy of an atom is much less than that of a photon for a given wavelength. However, until now no method has been available for making masks for atom lithography that can produce arbitrary, high-resolution patterns. Here we present a solution to this problem. First, traditional binary holography is extended to near-field binary holography, based on Fresnel diffraction. By this technique, we demonstrate that it is possible to make masks that can generate arbitrary patterns in a plane in the near field (from the mask) with a resolution down to the nanometer range using a state-of-the-art metastable-helium source. We compare the flux of this source with that of an established EUV source (NXE:3100, ASML) and show that patterns can potentially be produced at comparable speeds. Finally, we present an extension of the grid-based holography method for a grid of hexagonally shaped subcells. Our method can be used with any beam that can be modeled as a scalar wave, including other matter-wave beams such as helium ions, electrons, or acoustic waves.
Mask based pattern generation with photolithography is a crucial step in microchip production. The next generation Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV) lithography instruments with a wavelength of 13.5 nm is currently under development. In principle this allows patterning down to a few nm resolution in a single exposure. However, there are many technical challenges due to the very high energy of the photons among others. Lithography with metastable atoms has been suggested as a cost effective, less complex alternative to EUV lithography. The big advantage of atom lithography is that the kinetic energy of an atom is much smaller than that of a photon for a given wavelength. However up till now no method has been available for making masks for atom lithography that can produce arbitrary, high resolution patterns. Here we present a solution to this problem. We show that it is possible to make masks based on binary holography that can generate arbitrary patterns down to a few nm resolution using a state of the art metastable helium source. We compare the flux of this source with that of an established EUV source (ASML, NXE:3100) and show that patterns can potentially be produced at comparable speeds. Finally we present an extension of the grid based holography method for a grid of hexagonally shaped subcells. Our method can be used with any wave beam, including other matter wave beams such as helium ions or electrons.
Mask-based pattern generation is a crucial step in microchip production, but there are many technical challenges in scaling current techniques down to nanometer resolution. Lithography using metastable atoms has been suggested as a cost-effective, less complex alternative to conventional techniques, including extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography. This study presents a method based on binary holography that can be used to shape atom beams into arbitrary patterns. Simulations demonstrate the potential for state-of-the-art helium sources to produce patterns with nanometer resolution.
Atomic beam holography is a unique technique by which to fabricate a nanoscale object by using the interference of matter waves of ultracold atoms. The atomic de Broglie wave coming through a hologram interferes with and reconstructs a desired structure on a substrate. We first demonstrated holographic manipulation of metastable Ne atoms of 7 nm wavelength, where we showed the reconstruction of an “F” pattern and improvement of it. In this article, we propose and show techniques to manipulate three-dimensionally cooled Ne atoms. Atomic beam holography has the potential to make atomic-size objects, and the freedom in designing the hologram enables us to make not only a binary pattern but also an analog (gray scale) pattern. The resolution demonstrated in this experiment was about 60μ, but the minimum feature size expected is theoretically the same as the wavelength, i.e., several nanometers.
Abstract Fast production of large-area patterns is crucial for the established semiconductor industry and enables industrial-scale production of next-generation quantum devices. Metastable atom lithography with binary holography masks has been suggested as a higher resolution/low-cost alternative to the current state of the art: extreme ultraviolet lithography. However, it was recently shown that the interaction of the metastable atoms with the mask material (SiN) leads to a strong perturbation of the wavefront, not included in the existing mask generation theory, which is based on classical scalar waves. This means that the inverse problem (creating a mask based on the desired pattern) cannot be solved analytically, even in 1D. Here we present a machine-learning approach to mask generation targeted for metastable atoms. Our algorithm uses a combination of genetic optimisation and deep learning to obtain the mask. A novel deep neural architecture is trained to produce an initial approximation of the mask. This approximation is then used to generate the initial population of the genetic optimisation algorithm that can converge to arbitrary precision. We demonstrate the generation of arbitrary 1D patterns for system dimensions within the Fraunhofer approximation limit.
Atom lithography uses neutral atoms, e. g. cesium, to produce small structures with nanometer resolution on wafers by transforming a light intensity pattern into a density pattern of an atomic beam. In order to achieve a 2D complex structure, two elementary holographic gratings are written in an iron-doped lithium- niobate crystal, using light with the wavelength 852 nm. Illuminating the crystal with the reference wave simultaneously reconstructs two signal waves, and these three beams interfere and create a light pattern with two different grating periods. This light pattern is imprinted onto a beam of cesium atoms. A characterization of the ’’holographic mirror” as well as the results of the atom lithography experiment are presented, and some further extensions and perspectives of this new method are discussed.