Angstrom-scale flatness using selective nano-scale etching

Our paper was published in Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology

Takashi Yatsui, Hiroshi Saito, and Katsuyuki Nobusada, “Angstrom-scale flatness using selective nano-scale etching,” Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, Vol. 8, October 18, 2017, pp.2181–2185. doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.217.

[Significance of this article]

We developed a new angstrom-scale surface flattening method that uses optical near-fields to dissociate the molecules of protrusions on a surface. In this study, we compare near-field etching using gas molecules and ions in liquid phase. Two-dimensional Fourier analysis shows that these methods can etch scales less than 10 nm for both wet and dry etching. Our results also show that near-field dry etching is effective for the selective etching of nano-scale structures because of the large value of the mean free paths. We believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the literature because it advances our practical knowledge of optical near-field etching.