The NanoLace project: Grid-based holograms for matter waves lithography

Veronica Perez (NTNU) presented a contribution to the FOMO lecture series (Lectures on Matter-Wave Interferometry) on July 21st 2021.

Abstract: Grid-based binary holography (GBH) is an attractive method for patterning with light or matter waves. It is an approximate technique in which different holographic masks can be used to produce similar patterns. Mask-based pat- tern generation is a critical and costly step in microchip production. The next- generation extreme ultraviolet- (EUV) lithography instruments with a wave- length of 13.5 nm are currently under development. In principle, this should allow patterning down to a resolution of a few nanometers in a single expo- sure. However, lithography with metastable atoms has been suggested as a cost-effective, less-complex alternative to EUV lithography. The great advan- tage of atom lithography is that the kinetic energy of an atom is much less than that of a photon for the same wavelength. Until now, however, no method has been available for making masks for atom lithography that can produce arbitrary, high-resolution patterns; to achieve this is the aim of the NanoLace project.

Here we present the resolution that can be achieved when making binary masks to create patterns in a target plane close to the mask with the use of an atom source. Through simulations, we investigate the diffraction and ideal size of the patterns formed by holographic masks using beams of room temperature metastable helium atoms. in an experimental setup. Our calculations are now being extended to consider all experimental key features.

Link to the abstract:

https://www.matterwaveoptics.eu/fomo2021/contributed-talks/fomo2021-abstract/simonsen-veronica-p-the-nanolace-project-grid-based-holograms-for-matter-waves-lithography/