Patterning Under Pressure: Researchers Test a New Way to Manufacture Nanoscale Metal Patterns without the Need for a Vacuum

Seung Whan Lee, Hamidreza Zamani, Philip X.-L. Feng, and R. Mohan Sankaran

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 30, 010603 (2012); http://dx.doi.org/10.1116/1.3669523

Computers, cell phones, and many other electronic devices are made possible by tiny chips inscribed with nanoscale circuit patterns. Nanoscale patterns can also help scientists speed up chemical reactions and manipulate light, but the costs of producing the patterns can be high. Now a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio, has demonstrated a new way to create tiny patterns that eliminates an expensive requirement of some other manufacturing processes: the vacuum. The team's new techniques could help pave the way to low-cost mass production of nanoscale patterned films at atmospheric pressure. Read More

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Keeping Up with Moore's Law Using Directed Self-assembly (DSA)

Chi-Chun Liu, Christopher J. Thode, Paulina A. Rincon Delgadillo, Gordon S. W. Craig, Paul F. Nealey, and Roel Gronheid

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 29, 06F203 (2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1116/1.3644341

Moore's law, credited to computing pioneer Gordon Moore, states that the size of features on microchips shrinks by 70 percent every two years. This rapid pace has been made possible, in part, by improvements in the optical lithography techniques used to manufacture the chips. But now one of the most commonly used techniques, called 193i, has reached the limit of its resolution capabilities. Coming to the rescue, potentially, is a technique called directed self-assembly (DSA). While researchers continue to develop next-generation technology to take the place of 193i, DSA promises to be an inexpensive and relatively uncomplicated interim solution for making smaller microchip features. Read More

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