The possibility of using a scanning tunneling microscope configuration as a high-speed, ultra-microscopic, pattern generator exists because of (i) the unusual physics involved in forming the beam, (ii) recent advances in novel resist materials and processes, and (iii) the possibility of engineering an array of beams. The advantages of such a system are that the normal limits imposed by space-charge and lens aberrations are absent and that proximity effects are eliminated. Some very preliminary experiments have already resulted in some primitive patterns with sub-0.1 um lines. The proposed research is to investigate:
