Intel engineers working on lithography based on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation have demonstrated significant gains on tool, defect inspection and performance fronts. Lithography is the process by which intricate patterns are created on computer chips; the wavelength of EUV is more than 10X shorter than that in use today, meaning that EUVL promises a much sharper “pencil” for creating ever smaller features as Moore’s Law advances. Working with a EUV micro-exposure tool (MET), the first to be fully integrated into an IC fabrication facility, Intel engineers have demonstrated significant improvements in ultimate resolution capability. Results were presented recently at the SPIE Microlithography Conference (PDF 4.4MB); check out the paper for details. After over a decade of work, EUVL has moved from research to implementation mode!