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 (lambda) /2 equals 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 2D array, the creation of an array with (lambda) /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.

Date Published: 1 May 1997
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 2995, Atom Optics, (1 May 1997); doi: 10.1117/12.273745

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2995:
Atom Optics
Mara Goff Prentiss; William D. Phillips, Editor(s)