Want even tinier chips? Use a particle accelerator
High-speed electrons can etch nano-scale designs
Semiconductor chips are among the smallest and most detailed objects humans can manufacture. Shrinking the scale and upping the complexity is a fight against the limits of physics, and optical lithography—etching nanometre-scale patterns onto silicon with short-wavelength light—is its most extreme frontier. ASML, a Dutch firm that builds such lithography tools, takes an almost sci-fi approach by blasting molten tin droplets with lasers in a vacuum to produce extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light with a wavelength of just 13.5nm. Now, some researchers hope to generate more powerful EUV beams with a particle accelerator that propels electrons to nearly the speed of light.
Explore more
The race is on to build the world’s most complex machine
But toppling ASML will not be easy
Is butter bad for you?
A new study suggests olive oil may be a healthier alternative
Two private companies reach the Moon within four days
Though Firefly Aerospace has had better luck than Intuitive Machines
Satellites are polluting the stratosphere
And forthcoming mega-constellations will exacerbate the problem
AI models are dreaming up the materials of the future
Better batteries, cleaner bioplastics and more powerful semiconductors await
Mice have been genetically engineered to look like mammoths
They are small and tuskless, but extremely fluffy