MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES USED IN NANOSTRUCTURE FABRICATION

A high-resolution electron beam has been used to generate metal structures 8 nm wide and 10 nm high using ''contamination'' resist and dense metal patterns with 25 nm linewidths on 50-nm centers using PMMA resist. These resist materials together with standard deposition techniques and ion beam milling have been used to prepare a variety of structures on the order of nanometers in dimension. Present metal structure dimensions are limited by electron backscattering events in the substrate, the microstructure of the metallic thin film, and unknowns in the contamination resist process itself. The processing techniques are discussed as well as the preparation of substrates which are almost transparent to the electron beam.