Self-Assembled Monolayers Exposed by Metastable Argon and Metastable Helium for Neutral Atom Lithography and Atomic Beam Imaging

Published

September 1, 1997

Author(s)

A Bard, K K. Berggren, J L. Wilbur, John D. Gillaspy, S L. Rolston, Jabez J. McClelland, William D. Phillips, M Prentiss, G M. Whitesides

Abstract

We used a beam of noble gas atoms in a metastable excited state to expose a thin (1.5nm self-assembled monolayer resist applied over a gold-coated silicon wafer. We determined exposure damage as a function of dose of metastable atoms by processing the samples in a wet-chemical etch to remove the gold from unprotected regions, and then measuring the reflectivity with a laser and observing the microstructure with an atomic force microscope. We found that the minimum dose required to damage the resist substantially was 1.7(3) x 10¹⁵ atoms/cm² for metastable helium, and 25(7) x 10¹⁵ atoms/cm² for metastable argon.

Citation

Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B

Volume

15

Issue

5

Pub Type

Journals

Citation

Bard, A. , Berggren, K. , Wilbur, J. , Gillaspy, J. , Rolston, S. , McClelland, J. , Phillips, W. , Prentiss, M. and Whitesides, G. (1997), Self-Assembled Monolayers Exposed by Metastable Argon and Metastable Helium for Neutral Atom Lithography and Atomic Beam Imaging, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B (Accessed October 4, 2025)