ExtremeUV meaning

LIVERMORE, Calif. -- The world's first working microelectronic device to be made with extreme ultraviolet light has been fabricated at Sandia National Laboratories/California. The device is a field effect transistor, a common building block of all integrated circuits. It has an electrical channel, or gate width of 0.10 microns - a thousandth the width of a human hair - more than three times smaller than devices on current chips. "This demonstrates there are no fundamental show-stoppers in fabricating devices using extreme ultraviolet lithography," said Richard Stulen, who manages Sandia's Advanced Electronics Manufacturing Technologies Department in which the work takes place. "It's the world's first proof of principle for device fabrication with EUVL." Results of the Sandia project were presented Thursday in Boston at a meeting of the Optical Society of America by project leader Khanh Nguyen. Nguyen first demonstrated the device's operation on April 13 by examining its electrical characteristics using equipment at the University of California at Berkeley's Electrical Engineering Department. Additional highlights from the EUV lithography program were given by Sandia and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory collaborators at the meeting, significantly increasing confidence in the feasibility of this advanced lithography tool. Current leading edge chip patterns are printed with a photographic-like process, optical lithography, creating features that are 0.35 micron wide. However, optical lithography is reaching physical limits. The shorter wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light enable printing smaller features at high resolution. The experimental lithography tool assembled at Sandia a year ago is the first extreme ultraviolet patterning system capable of overlaying features, a precise and demanding function which is necessary to create a working device. Lithography has been targeted as a key technology for semiconductors as they continue to be made smaller, faster and more powerful. The Semiconductor Industry Association aims for commercial production of microchips with 0.1 micron features in the year 2007. The Sandia project is sponsored by the Department of Energy's Technology Transfer Initiative program in collaboration with LLNL, AT&T Bell Labs, Intel and other partners. As the project proceeds, the researchers will create more complicated devices and circuits to evaluate and develop the fabrication processes further, Stulen said. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram Department of Energy laboratory, operated by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp. With main facilities located in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in national defense, energy, environmental technologies and economic competitiveness. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy. Media contact:Nancy Garcia, Nancy_Garcia@Sandia.gov (510) 294-2932 Technical contact:Richard Stulen, (510) 294-2070 Khanh Nguyen, (510) 294-2218

More information: Gautam Ramola et al, Ramsey Imaging of Optical Traps, Physical Review Applied (2021). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.16.024041

ExtremeUV weather meaning

When individual atoms interact with each other, they often exhibit unusual behavior due to their quantum behavior. These effects can, for instance, be used to construct so-called quantum computers, which can solve certain problems that conventional computers struggle with. For such experiments, however, it is necessary to maneuver individual atoms into exactly the right position. "We do this using laser beams that serve as conveyor belts of light, so to speak," explains Dr. Andrea Alberti, who led the study at the Institute of Applied Physics at the University of Bonn.

Extreme ultravioletlithography

In this way, the researchers succeeded, for example, in adjusting four laser beams so that they intersected at exactly the desired position. "Such an adjustment would normally take several weeks, and you would still have no guarantee that the optimum had been reached," Alberti says. "With our process, we only needed about one day to do this."

"This demonstrates there are no fundamental show-stoppers in fabricating devices using extreme ultraviolet lithography," said Richard Stulen, who manages Sandia's Advanced Electronics Manufacturing Technologies Department in which the work takes place. "It's the world's first proof of principle for device fabrication with EUVL." Results of the Sandia project were presented Thursday in Boston at a meeting of the Optical Society of America by project leader Khanh Nguyen. Nguyen first demonstrated the device's operation on April 13 by examining its electrical characteristics using equipment at the University of California at Berkeley's Electrical Engineering Department. Additional highlights from the EUV lithography program were given by Sandia and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory collaborators at the meeting, significantly increasing confidence in the feasibility of this advanced lithography tool. Current leading edge chip patterns are printed with a photographic-like process, optical lithography, creating features that are 0.35 micron wide. However, optical lithography is reaching physical limits. The shorter wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light enable printing smaller features at high resolution. The experimental lithography tool assembled at Sandia a year ago is the first extreme ultraviolet patterning system capable of overlaying features, a precise and demanding function which is necessary to create a working device. Lithography has been targeted as a key technology for semiconductors as they continue to be made smaller, faster and more powerful. The Semiconductor Industry Association aims for commercial production of microchips with 0.1 micron features in the year 2007. The Sandia project is sponsored by the Department of Energy's Technology Transfer Initiative program in collaboration with LLNL, AT&T Bell Labs, Intel and other partners. As the project proceeds, the researchers will create more complicated devices and circuits to evaluate and develop the fabrication processes further, Stulen said. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram Department of Energy laboratory, operated by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp. With main facilities located in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in national defense, energy, environmental technologies and economic competitiveness. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy. Media contact:Nancy Garcia, Nancy_Garcia@Sandia.gov (510) 294-2932 Technical contact:Richard Stulen, (510) 294-2070 Khanh Nguyen, (510) 294-2218

DUV

A beam of light can only be seen when it hits matter particles and is scattered or reflected by them. In a vacuum, however, it is invisible. Physicists at the University of Bonn have now developed a method that allows laser beams to be visualized even under these conditions. The method makes it easier to perform the ultra-precise laser alignment required to manipulate individual atoms. The researchers have now presented their method in the journal Physical Review Applied.

The researchers in Bonn therefore used the atoms themselves to measure the propagation of laser beams. "To do this, we first changed the laser light in a characteristic way—we also call it elliptical polarization," Alberti explains. When the atoms are illuminated by a laser beam prepared in this way, they react changing their state in a characteristic way. These changes can be measured with a very high precision.

ExtremeUV wavelength

Current leading edge chip patterns are printed with a photographic-like process, optical lithography, creating features that are 0.35 micron wide. However, optical lithography is reaching physical limits. The shorter wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light enable printing smaller features at high resolution. The experimental lithography tool assembled at Sandia a year ago is the first extreme ultraviolet patterning system capable of overlaying features, a precise and demanding function which is necessary to create a working device. Lithography has been targeted as a key technology for semiconductors as they continue to be made smaller, faster and more powerful. The Semiconductor Industry Association aims for commercial production of microchips with 0.1 micron features in the year 2007. The Sandia project is sponsored by the Department of Energy's Technology Transfer Initiative program in collaboration with LLNL, AT&T Bell Labs, Intel and other partners. As the project proceeds, the researchers will create more complicated devices and circuits to evaluate and develop the fabrication processes further, Stulen said. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram Department of Energy laboratory, operated by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp. With main facilities located in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in national defense, energy, environmental technologies and economic competitiveness. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy. Media contact:Nancy Garcia, Nancy_Garcia@Sandia.gov (510) 294-2932 Technical contact:Richard Stulen, (510) 294-2070 Khanh Nguyen, (510) 294-2218

ExtremeUV Index

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Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram Department of Energy laboratory, operated by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp. With main facilities located in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in national defense, energy, environmental technologies and economic competitiveness. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy. Media contact:Nancy Garcia, Nancy_Garcia@Sandia.gov (510) 294-2932 Technical contact:Richard Stulen, (510) 294-2070 Khanh Nguyen, (510) 294-2218

The shorter wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light enable printing smaller features at high resolution. The experimental lithography tool assembled at Sandia a year ago is the first extreme ultraviolet patterning system capable of overlaying features, a precise and demanding function which is necessary to create a working device. Lithography has been targeted as a key technology for semiconductors as they continue to be made smaller, faster and more powerful. The Semiconductor Industry Association aims for commercial production of microchips with 0.1 micron features in the year 2007. The Sandia project is sponsored by the Department of Energy's Technology Transfer Initiative program in collaboration with LLNL, AT&T Bell Labs, Intel and other partners. As the project proceeds, the researchers will create more complicated devices and circuits to evaluate and develop the fabrication processes further, Stulen said. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram Department of Energy laboratory, operated by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp. With main facilities located in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in national defense, energy, environmental technologies and economic competitiveness. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy. Media contact:Nancy Garcia, Nancy_Garcia@Sandia.gov (510) 294-2932 Technical contact:Richard Stulen, (510) 294-2070 Khanh Nguyen, (510) 294-2218

UVlight

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The device is a field effect transistor, a common building block of all integrated circuits. It has an electrical channel, or gate width of 0.10 microns - a thousandth the width of a human hair - more than three times smaller than devices on current chips. "This demonstrates there are no fundamental show-stoppers in fabricating devices using extreme ultraviolet lithography," said Richard Stulen, who manages Sandia's Advanced Electronics Manufacturing Technologies Department in which the work takes place. "It's the world's first proof of principle for device fabrication with EUVL." Results of the Sandia project were presented Thursday in Boston at a meeting of the Optical Society of America by project leader Khanh Nguyen. Nguyen first demonstrated the device's operation on April 13 by examining its electrical characteristics using equipment at the University of California at Berkeley's Electrical Engineering Department. Additional highlights from the EUV lithography program were given by Sandia and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory collaborators at the meeting, significantly increasing confidence in the feasibility of this advanced lithography tool. Current leading edge chip patterns are printed with a photographic-like process, optical lithography, creating features that are 0.35 micron wide. However, optical lithography is reaching physical limits. The shorter wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light enable printing smaller features at high resolution. The experimental lithography tool assembled at Sandia a year ago is the first extreme ultraviolet patterning system capable of overlaying features, a precise and demanding function which is necessary to create a working device. Lithography has been targeted as a key technology for semiconductors as they continue to be made smaller, faster and more powerful. The Semiconductor Industry Association aims for commercial production of microchips with 0.1 micron features in the year 2007. The Sandia project is sponsored by the Department of Energy's Technology Transfer Initiative program in collaboration with LLNL, AT&T Bell Labs, Intel and other partners. As the project proceeds, the researchers will create more complicated devices and circuits to evaluate and develop the fabrication processes further, Stulen said. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram Department of Energy laboratory, operated by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp. With main facilities located in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in national defense, energy, environmental technologies and economic competitiveness. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy. Media contact:Nancy Garcia, Nancy_Garcia@Sandia.gov (510) 294-2932 Technical contact:Richard Stulen, (510) 294-2070 Khanh Nguyen, (510) 294-2218

ExtremeUV today

Additional highlights from the EUV lithography program were given by Sandia and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory collaborators at the meeting, significantly increasing confidence in the feasibility of this advanced lithography tool. Current leading edge chip patterns are printed with a photographic-like process, optical lithography, creating features that are 0.35 micron wide. However, optical lithography is reaching physical limits. The shorter wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light enable printing smaller features at high resolution. The experimental lithography tool assembled at Sandia a year ago is the first extreme ultraviolet patterning system capable of overlaying features, a precise and demanding function which is necessary to create a working device. Lithography has been targeted as a key technology for semiconductors as they continue to be made smaller, faster and more powerful. The Semiconductor Industry Association aims for commercial production of microchips with 0.1 micron features in the year 2007. The Sandia project is sponsored by the Department of Energy's Technology Transfer Initiative program in collaboration with LLNL, AT&T Bell Labs, Intel and other partners. As the project proceeds, the researchers will create more complicated devices and circuits to evaluate and develop the fabrication processes further, Stulen said. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram Department of Energy laboratory, operated by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp. With main facilities located in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in national defense, energy, environmental technologies and economic competitiveness. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy. Media contact:Nancy Garcia, Nancy_Garcia@Sandia.gov (510) 294-2932 Technical contact:Richard Stulen, (510) 294-2070 Khanh Nguyen, (510) 294-2218

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This task is less trivial than it sounds. For one thing, it requires great accuracy. "It's kind of like having to aim a laser pointer from the stands of a soccer stadium to hit a bean that's on the kickoff spot," Alberti clarifies. "But that's not all—you actually have to do it blindfolded." This is because quantum experiments take place in an almost perfect vacuum, where the laser beams are invisible.

Lithography has been targeted as a key technology for semiconductors as they continue to be made smaller, faster and more powerful. The Semiconductor Industry Association aims for commercial production of microchips with 0.1 micron features in the year 2007. The Sandia project is sponsored by the Department of Energy's Technology Transfer Initiative program in collaboration with LLNL, AT&T Bell Labs, Intel and other partners. As the project proceeds, the researchers will create more complicated devices and circuits to evaluate and develop the fabrication processes further, Stulen said. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram Department of Energy laboratory, operated by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp. With main facilities located in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in national defense, energy, environmental technologies and economic competitiveness. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy. Media contact:Nancy Garcia, Nancy_Garcia@Sandia.gov (510) 294-2932 Technical contact:Richard Stulen, (510) 294-2070 Khanh Nguyen, (510) 294-2218

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Such a conveyor belt of light contains countless pockets, each of which can hold a single atom. These pockets can be moved back and forth at will, allowing an atom to be transported to a specific location in space. If you want to move the atoms in different directions, you usually need many of these conveyor belts. When more atoms are transported to the same location, they can interact with each other. In order for this process to take place under controlled conditions, all pockets of the conveyor belt must have the same shape and depth. "To ensure this homogeneity, the lasers must overlap with micrometer precision," explains Gautam Ramola, the study's lead author.

The Sandia project is sponsored by the Department of Energy's Technology Transfer Initiative program in collaboration with LLNL, AT&T Bell Labs, Intel and other partners. As the project proceeds, the researchers will create more complicated devices and circuits to evaluate and develop the fabrication processes further, Stulen said. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram Department of Energy laboratory, operated by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp. With main facilities located in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in national defense, energy, environmental technologies and economic competitiveness. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy. Media contact:Nancy Garcia, Nancy_Garcia@Sandia.gov (510) 294-2932 Technical contact:Richard Stulen, (510) 294-2070 Khanh Nguyen, (510) 294-2218

"Each atom acts like a small sensor that records the intensity of the beam," Alberti continues. "By examining thousands of atoms at different locations, we can determine the location of the beam to within a few thousandths of a millimeter."