CHROMATOGRAPHY/SPECTROSCOPY Messenger finds surprises on Mercury
NASA's engineers hoped for a trouble-free mission, confirming earlier theories about Mercury. Messenger has done more...
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LIFE SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY Nanotube findings push biomedical potential to a new level
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MATERIALS SCIENCE/NANOTECHNOLOGY E.coli a future energy source?
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Collaborative Research in the Heartland
Indiana Univ., Bloomington, is considered one of the most beautiful college campuses in the nation, with its abundance of flowering plants and trees and cool Indiana limestone buildings. A 20-acre area in the southwest corner of this campus, known as the Old Crescent, is now also home to R&D Magazine’s 2008 Laboratory of the Year High Honors winner—Simon Hall.
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Microscopy/Image Analysis A Biased View of the Nanoworld: Electromechanical Imaging By Scanning Probe Microscopy Piezoresponse force microscopy enables electromechanical imaging at the nanoscale. continue...
Photonics/Optics Riding the Waveguide
A planned approach to photonics design is accelerating network development. continue...
Software Improving Bridge Performance with Finite Element Analysis
Finite element analysis enables better bridge performance from the ground up.
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Turbomolecular vacuum pump eliminates cables and accessory rack
Edwards has released its new iXA series of magnetic bearing turbomolecular vacuum pumps continue...
New microscope combines near-field optical Raman with atomic-force imaging
Molecular-level topographic sample information is now available to users of Parks Systems’ new atomic force microscope continue...
UV spectrophotometer features USB operation and small footprint
The latest ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) multi-mode spectrophotometer from Shimadzu Scientific Instruments is the UV-1800 continue...
EUV may prove irresistable
July 2, 2008
Last Thursday, the R&D Daily made one of its occasional forays into the fast-paced world of semiconductor technology, specifically extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL). According to new measurements from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the photoresists designed for use with this hotly-anticipated new technology are twice as effective is previously thought.
The discrepancy was caused by an older measurement method. Unfortunately, it’s not great news for EUV developers because it strongly indicates existing optics are only half as effective as previously thought.
However, judging from a recent conversations with technical leaders at Cymer, a major U.S. maker of radiation sources for semiconductor lithography, the rolling ball that is EUVL won’t be stopped anytime soon.
Cymer is one of just a few companies at the forefront of a race to develop a viable EUV scanner to replace existing 193 nm argon-fluoride-based devices which now dominate the semiconductor industry. Like other companies, it pushing to design a powerful light source in the about 13 nm wavelength range. So far, it has achieved 25 W of continuous power and intends to break 100 W by year’s end. And, like other companies, it must deal with the intense heat generated by such light and design robust optics which are efficient enough to achieve conversion goals.
Only with adequate conversion efficiency will developers of EUVL be in a position to deliver the performance needed when the market wants it.
It remains to be seen whether EUVL is the new standard in 2012 (the target date for widespread adoption of new scanners). But R&D Magazine will be closely following the progress of this and other technologies aimed at the next-generation of microchips; the push to keep us on the path of that oft-cited economic law of Gordon Moore will continue to surprise us.
