Silicon has been the marrow of the world ’s technology boom for almost half a century , butmicroprocessormanufacturers have all but squeezed the life-time out of it . The current technology used to make microprocessors will lead off to give its point of accumulation around 2005 . At that time , chipmakers will have to face to other technologies to cram moretransistorsonto silicon to create more brawny chips . Many are already looking atextreme - ultraviolet lithography(EUVL ) as a way to gallop the lifespan of silicon at least until the goal of the 10 .
The current process used to bundle more and more transistors onto a chip is calleddeep - ultraviolet lithography , which is a picture taking - alike proficiency that rivet light through Lens to carve circuit patterns on atomic number 14 wafers . Manufacturers are interested that this technique might shortly be problematical as the jurisprudence of physics intervene.
Usingextreme - ultraviolet(EUV ) lighter to carve transistors in silicon wafer will leave to microprocessors that are up to 100 times faster than today ’s most herculean chips , and to memory potato chip with exchangeable increase in storage capacity . In this clause , you will learn about the current lithography technique used to make cow dung , and how EUVL will squeeze even more transistors onto chips begin around 2007 .
Making Chips
Before you learn about how EUV lithography will revolutionize the manufacturing ofmicroprocessors , you should first translate a affair or two about current manufacturing processes . Microprocessors , also call computer chip , are made using a process calledlithography . Specifically , inscrutable - ultraviolet lithographyis used to make the current breed of chip and was most likely used to make the chip that is inside yourcomputer .
Lithography is akin to picture taking in that it use twinkle to transfer images onto a substrate . In the case of acamera , the substrate isfilm . Silicon is the traditional substrate used in chipmaking . To create the incorporate circuit design that ’s on a microprocessor , light is directed onto amask . A mask is like a stencil of the electrical circuit pattern . The light source shine through the masquerade and then through a series of optical lenses that wince the image down . This little trope is then cast onto a silicon , or semiconductor , wafer .
The wafer is cover with a light - sensible , liquid charge plate calledphotoresist . The mask is placed over the wafer , and when sparkle shines through the masquerade and attain the atomic number 14 wafer , it hardens the photoresist that is n’t cover by the masque . The photoresist that is not disclose to light remains somewhat gooey and is chemically washed away , entrust only the season photoresist and exposed atomic number 14 wafer .
The key to creating more knock-down microprocessors is the size of thelight ’s wavelength . The short the wavelength , the more transistors can be etched onto the silicon wafer . More transistors equals a more powerful , faster microprocessor . That ’s the openhanded rationality why an IntelPentium 4processor , which has 42 million junction transistor , is dissipated than thePentium 3 , which has 28 million transistors .
As of 2001 , deep - ultraviolet lithography uses a wavelength of 240 micromillimeter . A nanometer is one - billionth of a meter . As chipmakers shrink to 100 - nanometer wavelength , they will need a unexampled chipmaking technology . The problem posed by using deep - ultraviolet lithography is that as the luminance ’s wavelengths get smaller , the spark gets absorb by the methamphetamine lenses that are stand for to focus it . The result is that the light does n’t make it to the Si , so no circuit pattern is created on the wafer .
This is where EUVL will take over . In EUVL , looking glass lenses will be replaced bymirrorsto focus low-cal . In the next section , you will ascertain just how EUVL will be used to produce crisp that are at least five time more muscular than the most powerful chip made in 2001 .
Moore’s Law
Each yr , manufacturer impart out the next dandy computer chip that further computing power and allows ourpersonal computersto do more than we imagined just a decade ago . IntelfounderGordon Moorepredicted this technology phenomenon more than 35 yr ago , when he said that the number of transistors on a microprocessor would reduplicate every 18 month . This became known asMoore ’s police .
Industry experts believe that deep - ultraviolet light lithography will reach its limits around 2004 and 2005 , which think of that Moore ’s law would also come to an destruction without a new chipmaking engineering . But once deep - ultraviolet hits its ceiling , we will see chipmakers move to a new lithography process that will enable them to produce the industry ’s first 10 - gigahertz ( GHz ) microprocessor by 2007 . By comparing , the firm Intel Pentium 4 processor ( as of May 2001 ) is 2.4 GHz . EUVL could add another 10 years to Moore ’s Law .
" EUV lithography allows us to make chip with feature sizes that are small enough to support 10 Gc clock swiftness . It does n’t necessarily make it happen , " Don Sweeney , EUV Lithography program manager atLawrence Livermore National Laboratory(LLNL ) , tell . " The first thing we need to do is to make integrated circuits down to 30 nanometers , and EUV lithography will clear do that . " By comparability , the belittled electric circuit that can be created by deep - ultraviolet lithography is 100 nanometers .
In April 2001 , theEUV Limited Liability Company(EUV LLC ) unveiled the first full - scale prototype EUV lithography machine . The EUV LLC is a consortium be of some of the world ’s leading chipmakers and three U.S. Department of Energy enquiry laboratory . extremity include Intel , AMD , IBM , Micron , Infeneon and Motorola . These companies are working with theVirtual National Laboratory , made up of Sandia National Laboratories , Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory . The reward of being a extremity of this consortium is having first precedency to apply this newfangled technology .
Now let ’s see how EUVL work .
The EUVL Process
Here ’s how EUVL process :
According to Sweeney , the entire process rely on wavelength . If you make the wavelength curt , you get a better image . He say to think in footing of taking a still exposure with a camera .
" When you take a photograph of something , the caliber of the range count on a lot of things , " he said . " And the first thing it depends on is the wavelength of the lighter that you ’re using to make the photograph . The shorter the wavelength , the well the image can be . That ’s just a law of nature . "
As of 2001 , microchips being made with deep - ultraviolet illumination lithography are made with 248 - micromillimeter light . As of May 2001 , some producer are transitioning over to 193 - millimicron light . With EUVL , chips will be made with 13 - nanometer brightness . Based on the law that smaller wavelength create a well image , 13 - nanometer lighter will increase the quality of the convention projected onto a silicon wafer , thus improving microprocessor speed .
This entire process has to take station in avacuumbecause these wavelengths of visible light are so brusk that even air would absorb them . Additionally , EUVL uses concave and bulging mirrors surface with multiple layers of molybdenum and atomic number 14 – this covering can shine closely 70 percent of EUV luminosity at a wavelength of 13.4 nanometers . The other 30 percent is absorb by the mirror . Without the coat , the light would be almost completely soak up before pass on the wafer . The mirror surfaces have to be nearly arrant ; even small defects in coatings can destroy the physique of the optics and deform the printed racing circuit pattern , make problem in check role .
For more info on EUVL and related topics , contain out the link on the next page .
