Atomic precision patterning on Si: An opportunity for a digitized process

H depassivation lithography is a process by which a monolayer of H absorbed on a Si(1 0 0) 2 × 1 surface may be patterned by the removal of H atoms using a scanning tunneling microscope. This process can achieve atomic resolution where individual atoms are targeted and removed. This paper suggests that such a patterning process can be carried out as a digital process, where the pixels of the pattern are the individual H atoms. The goal is digital fabrication rather than digital information processing. The margins for the read and write operators appear to be sufficient for a digital process, and the tolerance for physical addressing of the atoms is technologically feasible. A digital fabrication process would enjoy some of the same advantages of digital computation; namely high reliability, error checking and correction, and the creation of complex systems.