We report a sevenfold improvement in the rate of contamination resist
formation over previous experiments by using metastable neon atoms for
nanolithography. Chemically assisted ion beam etching was used to tra
nsfer the resist pattern into the substrate. We demonstrate the fabric
ation of 50-nm-wide features in GaAs with well-defined edges and an as
pect ratio > 2:1. These are the best resolution and highest aspect rat
io features that have been achieved with metastable atom lithography.
The resist formation rate by the metastable neon atoms and the etch se
lectivity of the contamination resist with GaAs were measured. (C) 199
7 American Institute of Physics.