NANOMETER-SCALE ABLATION USING FOCUSED, COHERENT EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET/SOFT X-RAY LIGHT
First Claim
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1. Apparatus for nanometer-scale ablation of material from the surface of a sample, comprising in combination:
- a chamber capable of being evacuated;
pump means for evacuating said chamber to a chosen pressure;
a source of pulsed coherent light having a chosen wavelength in the range between 1 nm and 100 nm, and a chosen fluence, wherein the pulsed light is introduced into said chamber;
a Fresnel zone plate disposed within said chamber for receiving the chosen wavelength of light from said source of light, and for focusing the light; and
means for positioning said sample in the region of the focused light within said chamber such that the focused light is incident on the surface of said sample, whereby material is removed from the surface of said sample.
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Abstract
Ablation of holes having diameters as small as 82 nm and having clean walls was obtained in a poly(methyl methacrylate) on a silicon substrate by focusing pulses from a Ne-like Ar, 46.9 nm wavelength, capillary-discharge laser using a freestanding Fresnel zone plate diffracting into third order is described. Spectroscopic analysis of light from the ablation has also been performed. These results demonstrate the use of focused coherent EUV/SXR light for the direct nanoscale patterning of materials.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. Apparatus for nanometer-scale ablation of material from the surface of a sample, comprising in combination:
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a chamber capable of being evacuated;
pump means for evacuating said chamber to a chosen pressure;
a source of pulsed coherent light having a chosen wavelength in the range between 1 nm and 100 nm, and a chosen fluence, wherein the pulsed light is introduced into said chamber;
a Fresnel zone plate disposed within said chamber for receiving the chosen wavelength of light from said source of light, and for focusing the light; and
means for positioning said sample in the region of the focused light within said chamber such that the focused light is incident on the surface of said sample, whereby material is removed from the surface of said sample. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for nanometer-scale ablation of material from the surface of a sample, comprising the steps of:
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directing pulsed coherent light having a chosen wavelength in the range between 1 nm and 100 nm and a chosen intensity onto a Fresnel zone plate disposed in a vacuum chamber below atmospheric pressure, such that the light is focused; and
positioning the sample in the region of the focused light in the vacuum chamber such that the focused light is incident on the surface of the sample, whereby material is removed from the surface of the sample. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification