Nanomanufacturing-Ion Beam Lithography

Nanomanufacturing involves production of nanoscale materials, structure as well as devices with dimensions between one to one hundred nanometers. It is the recent branch of manufacturing that represent both a new field of science and also a new market place. Ion beam lithography plays a vital role in the nanomanufacturing process, by using beam of ions across the surface to create the structure at nanoscale. It consists the ion beam a smaller wavelength than even an e-beam and therefore almost no diffraction takes place. At this time there are only two techniques for writing original patterns (as opposed to replicating them) at 0.1 mum and below; electron beams and ion beams. Electron beams are at a mature state of development and have advantages in absence of shot noise and in fast deflection capability. In this paper we summarize the working and applications of ion beam lithography in nanomanufacturing.