IBM claims breakthrough in chip manufacture

By Steve Malone

Posted on 3 Dec 2004 at 09:50

IBM has announced that it has successfully developed a commercial technique for etching ever smaller circuits onto wafers. The claim means that etching techniques such as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) could be replaced by a process known as immersion lithography down to 45nm and below.

Immersion lithography means the gap between the lens and the wafer is filled with a liquid, thus exposing photographic images through liquid rather than air. The technique allows manufacturers to make sharper, and thus smaller and more powerful, circuitry in chips.

IBM says that its researchers have successfully built a processor based on its Power PC design using the process. Although the process is still very much in the R&D stage, IBM will be working with its partners AMD and Infineon and the University of Albany to develop production scale applications.