Accuracy of Nanoscale Pitch Standards Fabricated by Laser-Focused Atomic Deposition

Published

March 1, 2003

Author(s)

Jabez J. McClelland, W Anderson, C Bradley, M Walkiewicz, R Deslattes, E Jurdik, Robert Celotta

Abstract

The pitch accuracy of a grating formed by laser-focused atomic deposition is evaluated from the point of view of fabricating nanoscale pitch standard artifacts. The average pitch obtained by the process, nominally half the laser wavelength, is simply traceable with small uncertainty to an atomic frequency and hence can be known with very high accuracy. An error budget is presented for a Cr on sapphire sample, showing that a combined standard uncertainty of 0.0049° nm, or a relative uncertainty of 2.3¿10^-5, is readily obtained, provided the substrate temperature does not change. Precision measurements of the diffraction of the 351.1 nm argon ion laser line from such an artifact are also presented. These yield an average pitch of (212.7777 {plus or minus} 0.0069) nm, which agrees well with the expected value, as corrected for thermal contraction, of (212.7705 {plus or minus} 0.0049) nm.

Citation

Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology

Volume

108

Issue

2

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

atom optics, atomic ruler, chromium lines, laser focusing, nanoscale standards, nanotechnology, pitch standards

Citation

McClelland, J. , Anderson, W. , Bradley, C. , Walkiewicz, M. , Deslattes, R. , Jurdik, E. and Celotta, R. (2003), Accuracy of Nanoscale Pitch Standards Fabricated by Laser-Focused Atomic Deposition, Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Accessed October 13, 2025)