Subwavelength lithography over extended areas -: art. no. 013811

We demonstrate a systematic approach to subwavelength resolution Lithographic image formation on films covering areas larger than a wavelength squared. For example, it is possible to make a lithographic pattern with a feature size resolution of lambda/[2(N+1)] by using a particular 2M-photon, multimode entangled state, where N less than or equal toM, and banks of birefringent plates. By preparing such a statistically mixed state, one can form any pixel pattern on a 2(M-N)(N+1) x 2(M-N)(N+1) pixel grid occupying a square with side L = 2(M-N-1)lambda. Hence, there is a trade off between the exposed area, the minimum lithographic feature size resolution, and the number of photons used for the exposure. We also show that the proposed method will work even under nonideal conditions, albeit with somewhat poorer performance.