System for making denser, faster integrated circuits.

Efforts to cram even more components on a silicon substrate to increase component density and increase speed of ICs have paid off. A new photolithographic system that can imprint integrated circuit features one-thousandth the width of a human hair (0.1 micron) - this is only about one-fifth the size of those found on the most advanced microcircuits now in production - has been developed.

The equipment development was the result of a joint effort by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and AT&T Bell Laboratories who worked together to explore the feasibility of using extreme ultraviolet light in the manufacture of ICs. The research was sponsored by the U.S. …