USING NEUTRAL METASTABLE ARGON ATOMS AND CONTAMINATION LITHOGRAPHY TOFORM NANOSTRUCTURES IN SILICON, SILICON DIOXIDE, AND GOLD

This letter describes the fabrication of similar to 80 nm structures i n silicon, silicon dioxide, and gold substrates by exposing the substr ates to a beam of metastable argon atoms in the presence of dilute vap ors of trimethylpentaphenyltrisiloxane, the dominant constituent of di ffusion pump oil used in these experiments. The atoms release their in ternal energy upon contacting the siloxanes physisorbed on the surface of the substrate, and this release causes the formation of a carbon-b ased resist. The atomic beam was patterned by a silicon nitride membra ne, and the pattern formed in the resist material was transferred to t he substrates by chemical etching. Simultaneous exposure of large area s (44 cm(2)) was also demonstrated. (C) 1996 American Institute of Phy sics.