Electron-beam lithography disadvantages

This has lead to the development of a number of high-resolution lithographic techniques over the past two decades. Each of these techniques has its own advantages and disadvantages and some of the most important, including Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV), electron beam lithography and a variety of Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL) techniques are discussed below. 

For the fabrication of quantum wires, the above-mentioned quantum wells are used as precursor. The wells are then patterned by electron beam lithography and dry- or wet-chemical etching [26,41-43]. This method is also used to fabricate quantum dots with regular spatial distribution. The resulting wires or dots have well-defined widths and lengths down to about 10 nm. A disadvantage of this method is the low density of quantum dots on the surface area and the fact that it is very difficult to obtain structures below certain sizes. A further method for the fabrication of quantum wires with high concentrations per volume unit is the electrochemical deposition of the semiconductor material into the cavities of anodic aluminum oxide. The aluminum oxide can be removed chemically and one obtains quantum wires with diameters down to 9 nm [44-46]. 

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