Fabrication of Nano-Scale Gaps in Integrated Circuits

TL;DR

This paper introduces an optical lithography technique for creating nanometer-scale gaps in integrated circuits, enabling scalable integration of nano-sized quantum objects with precise control over gap size.

Contribution

It presents a novel method combining optical lithography and molecular beam epitaxy to fabricate controlled nanometer gaps suitable for large-scale circuit integration.

Findings

Achieved subnanometer control of gap sizes

Demonstrated scalable fabrication process

Enabled integration of nano-objects in circuits

Abstract

Nano-size objects like metal clusters present an ideal system for the study of quantum phenomena and for constructing practical quantum devices. Integrating these small objects in a macroscopic circuit is, however, a difficult task. So far the nanoparticles have been contacted and addressed by highly sophisticated techniques which are not suitable for large scale integration in macroscopic circuits. We present an optical lithography method that allows for the fabrication of a network of electrodes which are separated by gaps of controlled nanometer size. The main idea is to control the gap size with subnanometer precision using a structure grown by molecular beam epitaxy.