Electron beam lithography is a technique used to write nanometer-size features using a narrow beam of electrons to trace out the desired pattern on your sample.  This is a form of maskless lithography - custom patterns can be written without the need for a mask.  However, ebeam lithography has a low throughput and it is expensive, making it impractical for industrial purposes.  This form of lithography is mainly used in research, mask writing, and prototyping, rather than for mass producing devices.  In the past, I have used this system to make nanowires that are less than 100 nm wide. This is 1/1000th the diameter of a human hair!

A sputter system in our lab. Sputter deposition is a fabrication technique used to deposit thin films of a particular material onto a sample. The film can then be patterned using lithography into, for example, electrical contacts for your device. It is commonly used in the semiconductor industry to make integrated circuits. First a gaseous plasma of ions, typically argon, is created in the sputter chamber. Ions in the plasma are then accelerated into a large piece of the material to be deposited, called the target, causing atoms to be ejected from the surface. Atoms that reach the sample or substrate are redeposited, forming a thin film over time.

said my sister