A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has invented a new way of shrinking circuit structures in semiconductors, which is certainly an advancement of the Moore's law. Moore’s law is the standard that defines the growth in semiconductors. The law named after Intel co-founder, Gordon E Moore, states that the number of components in integrated circuits had doubled every year from the invention of the integrated circuit in 1958 until 1965. His prediction proved to be accurate and the law is still practised in the semiconductor industry for long-term planning and to set targets for research and development, said a report.
The chip manufacturing industry resorts to photolithography techniques, which means producing chip features that are larger than the wavelength of the light applied. MIT researchers have developed a new process that can create complex chip structures, which would be 1/8th the size of the wavelength of the light used. It is a process that is described in the paper as "Breaking the Far-Field Diffraction Limit in Optical Nanopatterning via Repeated Photochemical and Electrochemical Transitions in Photochromic Molecules", published in Physical Review Letters.
The researchers term it as an effect called Stimulated Emission Depletion imaging (STED), which enabled them to go beyond the current limitations of photolithography. Scientists make use of the fluorescent characteristics of materials to emit light when targeted by a laser beam in STED. The power of light emitted can be controlled by the intensity of the laser beam. If the power falls enough, it causes a 'dark patch' that is smaller than the wavelength of the laser light itself. These dark patches can be used as masks, which can be applied to a surface, said a Toms Hardware report.
The MIT Researchers opine that this invention can help in constructing semiconductors with much finer structures than what is possible today. MIT said that there could also be an opportunity to apply this technology in photonic devices.
The chip manufacturing industry resorts to photolithography techniques, which means producing chip features that are larger than the wavelength of the light applied. MIT researchers have developed a new process that can create complex chip structures, which would be 1/8th the size of the wavelength of the light used. It is a process that is described in the paper as "Breaking the Far-Field Diffraction Limit in Optical Nanopatterning via Repeated Photochemical and Electrochemical Transitions in Photochromic Molecules", published in Physical Review Letters.
The researchers term it as an effect called Stimulated Emission Depletion imaging (STED), which enabled them to go beyond the current limitations of photolithography. Scientists make use of the fluorescent characteristics of materials to emit light when targeted by a laser beam in STED. The power of light emitted can be controlled by the intensity of the laser beam. If the power falls enough, it causes a 'dark patch' that is smaller than the wavelength of the laser light itself. These dark patches can be used as masks, which can be applied to a surface, said a Toms Hardware report.
The MIT Researchers opine that this invention can help in constructing semiconductors with much finer structures than what is possible today. MIT said that there could also be an opportunity to apply this technology in photonic devices.
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