1) The document discusses using high energy ion beams masked by nano-apertures to enable the creation of photonic crystals with nanostructures less than 10nm. 2) It focuses on continuing previous work simulating the passage of high energy ions through nano-apertures and experimentally masking a 1.5 MeV helium ion beam with nano-apertures. 3) Key challenges discussed include creating high aspect ratio nano-apertures, precisely aligning the ion beam with the apertures, and reducing the number of scattered high energy ions.