Light force manipulation of an atomic gallium beam

Summary form only given. Laser focusing of neutral atoms is a unique approach for fabricating periodic small structures. In a standing wave formed by two counter-propagating laser beams, the radiation force acts as a sequence of cylindrical lenses that focus the atoms into a periodic array of parallel lines during deposition onto a substrate. In this way, a pattern is written onto the substrate without the use of any masks. To minimize the feature width on the substrate, the atoms entering the focusing laser must be highly collimated transversely by optical cooling.