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Abstract
The recent trends in the semiconductor industry are toward circuits with ever increasing numbers of elements, and higher device density on the semiconductor chips. One way these higher densities are being achieved is by reduction of the lithographic dimensions of the individual devices in the ciruuit. A challenge for lithographic processes is to provide the resolution necessary to produce the smaller structures, without a reduction in throughput, and many research groups are pursuing ways of achieving this.
In this work, we will present a fundamentally new method of lithography. This technique uses the techniques developed in the fields of laser cooling and trapping of atoms, to create patterns on a surface by modifying the spatial distribution of atoms in an atomic beam during the deposition of a thin film. Numerical simulations of this technique show that it should be capable of producing structures smaller than 10nm, and because of its parallel nature continue to have high throughput.
In particular, we have used a Gaussian standing wave at $\lambda$ = 589nm as an atom optical lens to focus a thermal atomic sodium beam. We have examined both numerically and experimentally how the parameters of the atomic source and the Gaussian standing wave lens affect the resolution of our deposited structures. By optimizing the choice of parameters, and using a short focal length atom optical lens, we have produced structures with linewidths of $\rm{\sim}13nm$ and contrasts of 6:1.
