10-nm-Size Fabrication of Semiconductor Substrates and Metal Thin Lines by Conventional Photolithography

A novel technique for nano-fabrication is proposed, in which only conventional photolithography is used for patterning in conjunction with the anodic oxidation method. A contact pattern-mask with nanometer-size slits (nanometer slit mask) is actually fabricated by this technique. 10-nm-size trenches are formed in semiconductor substrates by using such a nanometer slit mask. Lateral metal/insulator/metal (MIM) structure with a 10-nm-size middle insulator is also fabricated using a similar mask, and the Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) tunneling currents can be observed in this lateral MIM structure. It is confirmed that the present proposed technique can be applied to the fabrication of future nanometer-size devices.