Nanostructure technology

The ability to fabricate structures with lateral dimensions in the sub-100-nm range has opened a new field of research. This paper first reviews recent advances in nanolithography techniques, with a brief discussion of their relative merits and fundamental limits. Special emphasis is given to the scanning electron-beam method, which is the most widely used nanolithography method at the present time. The two main areas of nanostructure research are device technology and basic science. Highlights of a number of exploratory programs in these two areas are presented.