Chips’ future cast
June 20, 2002 | Source: Nature
A new laser-stamping technique could produce computer chips with 100 times more transistors on a chip, according to Stephen Chou of Princeton University.
Image A shows a quartz template used to press ultrasmall patterns into silicon. Image B shows the pattern as it appears in silicon.
The research could lead to patterns imprinted with features only 10 nanometers wide onto a silicon wafer, compared to the lower limit of about 130 nanometers wide with photolithography.
The technique is derived from a similar method used to print compact discs.
Chou, S. Y., Keimel, C. & Gu, J. Ultrafast and direct imprint of nanostructures in silicon. Nature, 417, 835 – 837, (2002).
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