Fast Atom Beam Etching of Glass Materials with Contact and Non-Contact Masks

Fast atom beam (FAB) etching of multicomponent glass and silica glass was performed using a contact mask (electron beam resist) and two non-contact masks (typically 5-µ m-diameter particles and a copper mesh with a 5 µ m line width and 20 µ m line spacing). FAB etching of a multi component glass substrate with the micro-particle mask successfully fabricated a precisely projected, 1.0-µ m-high outline pattern on the substrate. FAB etching of a silica glass substrate with the copper-mesh mask, which was separated from the substrate by about 100 µ m, successfully produced a projected, 34-nm-high outline pattern on the substrate. A combination of electron beam lithography with FAB etching on silica glass successfully fabricated nano-scale ultrafine patterns whose aspect ratio was higher than 7 (50 nm line width and 360 nm height). In all three fabrications, the side walls and etched surfaces were very smooth and were perpendicular to each other.