Method and apparatus for fabricating three dimensional element from anisotropic material

Abstract

A three-dimensional element is fabricated from a high-temperature superconductor. The method and apparatus can fabricate, for example, a single-electron tunnel device or an intrinsic Josephson device which utilize the layer structure peculiar to the high-temperature superconductor, with machining from the side surface of a monocrystal or thin film. In the focused-ion beam etching, a substrate holder which is rotatable about 360°, is rotated, at the minimum, through an angle of about 90°, and the thin film or monocrystal on the substrate is etched from the side surface thereof so as to fabricate the element. After the thin film or monocrystal is machined from above by means of an focused-ion beam to thereby form a bridge having a junction length, the sample is rotated by about 90° (270°). Subsequently, a multi-layer current path layer is formed through side-surface machining. The junction length is accurately controlled through measurement of the current path length from an image display.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.