We present the first realization of three-dimensional lithography on the na
nometer scale using atom optical techniques. It has already been shown that
, with atom lithography, two-dimensional lateral structures of 50 nm can be
obtained. In our experiment we utilize the resonant enhancement of light f
orces to address specifically one species of a multi-component beam. Thus a
host and a dopant material can be evaporated simultaneously, but only the
dopant is focused and thus spatially modulated by the light field. In this
paper we show that this patterning of the dopant concentration on the nanom
eter scale can cause macroscopic effects such as wrinkle pattern formation
in a film. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.