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Optics Letters

Light force cooling, focusing, and nanometer-scale deposition of aluminum atoms

Roger W. McGowan, David M. Giltner, S. A. Lee

Published Dec 15, 1995• 181 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We deposited neutral-aluminum atoms in thin parallel lines to form a grating with a line separation of 154.7 nm by using near-resonant laser light and direct-write optical lithography techniques. We did this by using the single-frequency closed UV transition from the second ground state 3p2P3/2 (F = 4) to 3d2D5/2 (F = 5) at 309.4 nm. The aluminum features were analyzed with an atomic-force microscope.

DOI
10.1364/ol.20.002535

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We deposited neutral-aluminum atoms in thin parallel lines to form a grating with a line separation of 154.7 nm by using near-resonant laser light and direct-write optical lithography techniques. We did this by using the single-frequency closed UV transition from the second ground state 3p2P3/2 (F = 4) to 3d2D5/2 (F = 5) at 309.4 nm. The aluminum features were analyzed with an atomic-force microscope.
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Summary form only given. Laser focusing of neutral atoms is a unique approach for fabricating periodic small structures. In a standing wave formed by two counter-propagating laser beams, the radiation force acts as a sequence of cylindrical lenses that focus the atoms into a periodic array of parallel lines during deposition onto a substrate. In this way, a pattern is written onto the substrate without the use of any masks. To minimize the feature width on the substrate, the atoms entering the focusing laser must be highly collimated transversely by optical cooling.
We passed a transversely cooled sodium atomic beam through an optical standing wave, which channeled the atoms into the intensity minima (maxima) for light tuned below (above) the sodium 32S1/2 → 32P3/2 resonance frequency. The channeled atoms retained their spatial distribution when they were deposited onto the silicon surface. The surface was thus covered by a permanent periodic sodium grating with an area of 1 x 0.1 cm2 and a period of d = 294.3 ±0.3 nm, which is half the wavelength of the standing wave field. The entire grating was completed in 10 min. We measured the period of the grating by backscattering weak probe light. The probe light had a wavelength λ, which we varied between 5580 and 5800 Å, and was incident at an angle ϕ relative to the normal. There is constructive interference when the angle θ with respect to the normal to the grating is such that λ = d(sin θ + sin ϕ). The dependence of θ on ϕ allowed us to measure d. Semiclassical theory suggests the width of the lines in the grating could be of the order of 100 Å.
The ability to fabricate nanometer-sized structures that are stable in air has the potential to contribute significantly to the advancement of new nanotechnologies and our understanding of nanoscale systems. Laser light can be used to control the motion of atoms on a nanoscopic scale. Chromium atoms were focused by a standing-wave laser field as they deposited onto a silicon substrate. The resulting nanostructure consisted of a series of narrow lines covering 0.4 millimeter by 1 millimeter. Atomic force microscopy measurements showed a line width of 65 +/- 6 nanometers, a spacing of 212.78 nanometers, and a height of 34 +/-+ 10 nanometers. The observed line widths and shapes are compared with the predictions of a semiclassical atom optical model.