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Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures Processing Measurement and Phenomena

Atomic beam holography for nanofabrication

Jun‐ichi Fujita, T. Kisimoto, M. Morinaga, S. Matsui, Fujio Shimizu

Published Nov 1, 1998• 10 citations

Abstract

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.

DOI: 10.1116/1.590423

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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.

We describe various techniques to manipulate laser-cooled Ne atoms interferometrically by using a silicon nitride film with holes and electrode deposition. Laser-cooled Ne atoms pass through a computer-generated through-hole binary hologram and generate an atomic image on a substrate. The hologram can be designed to provide a spherical phase correction, and the reconstructed pattern is focused on the substrate at a finite distance from the hologram. Such holographic manipulation can be extended to gray-scaled reconstruction that is used to deposit relief-like 3D atomic patterns on surfaces. In addition, an atom interacts with electric, magnetic, and optical fields. This provides the holographic atomic-wave manipulation to perform functions that are difficult for a light wave. The Stark shift induced by an external electric field is used to switch and to modify atomic patterns in real time. We also introduce an reflecting type atom holography by using quantum reflection.

A method of generating an arbitrary pattern of atoms by using an interferometric technique is reported. A laser-cooled metastable Ne atomic beam in the

{1s}_{3}

state is diffracted by a computer generated binary hologram. A black-and-white pattern is drawn on a microchannel detector with a spatial resolution exceeding $65\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$ and a resolving power better than

30

.

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.

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.

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.