Self-assembled monolayers exposed by metastable argon and metastable helium for neutral atom lithography and atomic beam imaging

We used a beam of noble gas atoms in a metast i ib le xci ted state to expose a th in (1.5 nm) self-assembled monolayer esist applied over a gold-coated sil icon waf'er. We determined exposure damage as a function of dose of metastable atoms by processing the samples in a wet-chemical etch to remove the -cold from unprotected regions and then measuring the reflectir ity with a laser and observing the rnicrostructure with an atomic force micrclscope. We found that the minimum dose required to damage the resist substant ia l ly was l . l (Z)x l0 l5 atoms/cml t . , ' r metastable hel ium, and 25(l) x l0l5 atoms/cm2 for metastable argon. A 1997 Americtut Vut'uunt Sot' iett ' . [s0734-2 r l x(e7)0320s-8]