Localization of atomic beams using standing wave optical quenching: Atom lithography and atomic imaging

Tycho Sleator, Tilman Pfau, V. I. Balykin +1 more

T. Meijer, Joshua P. Beardmore, C. G. C. H. M. Fabrie +5 more

Atom lithography uses standing wave light fields as arrays of lenses to focus neutral atom beams into line patterns on a substrate. Laser cooled atom beams are commonly used, but an atom beam source with a small opening placed at a large distance from a substrate creates atom beams which are locally geometrically collimated on the substrate. These beams have local offset angles with respect to the substrate. We show that this affects the height, width, shape, and position of the created structures. We find that simulated effects are partially obscured in experiments by substrate-dependent diffusion of atoms, while scattering and interference just above the substrate limit the quality of the standing wave lens. We find that in atom lithography without laser cooling the atom beam source geometry is imaged onto the substrate by the standing wave lens. We therefore propose using structured atom beam sources to image more complex patterns on subwavelength scales in a massively parallel way.

S.J.H. Petra, K. A. H. van Leeuwen, L. Feenstra +2 more

Kent S. Johnson, Joseph H. Thywissen, Nynke H. Dekker +4 more

Summary form only given.We used spatially dependent optical pumping in a standing wave to create nanostructures using metastable argon and resist-based atom lithography. Although the localization is caused by spontaneous emission, the matter wave diffraction and the mechanical effects of the light affect the resulting atomic localization. We investigate the role of the spontaneous emission.

Ryuzo Omukai, Masayoshi Watanabe, 隆三 大向 +1 more

Kent S. Johnson, Joseph H. Thywissen, Nynke H. Dekker +4 more

The spatially dependent de-excitation of a beam of metastable argon atoms, traveling through an optical standing wave, produced a periodic array of localized metastable atoms with position and momentum spreads approaching the limit stated by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Silicon and silicon dioxide substrates placed in the path of the atom beam were patterned by the metastable atoms. The de-excitation of metastable atoms upon collision with the surface promoted the deposition of a carbonaceous film from a vapor-phase hydrocarbon precursor. The resulting patterns were imaged both directly and after chemical etching. Thus, quantum-mechanical steady-state atom distributions can be used for sub-0.1-micrometer lithography.