In Proceedings of the SPIE, San Jose, CA, February 1997 (1997) p. 90.
Through the use of light forces exerted by near-resonant laser light, chromium atoms are focused as they deposit onto a substrate, forming nanometer-scale structures on the surface. The laser light is in the form of a standing wave, in which each node acts as an atom-optical "lens." The result is a highly accurate array of lines with a periodicity of λ/2 = 212.78 nm and full-width at half maximum as small as 38 nm. We discuss progress with this process, in particular the fabrication of a two-dimensional array, the creation of an array with λ/8 periodicity, the replication of the array in polymer material, the production of magnetic nanowires, and the reactive-ion etching of a chromium pattern on silicon to generate an array of distinct nanowires and/or nanotrenches.
Keywords: atom optics; atom lithography; laser-focused atomic deposition; light forces; atom manipulation; nanostructures; nanofabrication; chromium; magnetic nanostructures
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