Nanofabrics

In a lecture that dips into both the anatomy and history of the semiconductor, Grant Willson offers some provocative thoughts on whether industry can continue improving on this most useful of inventions.He details the original process of photolithography, involving designing a circuit pattern, then using a $25 million printer with a focused electron beam to reproduce the pattern on special glass, called a mask. It’s the mask’s pattern, etched onto a silicon wafer that forms the basis of the microchip. Layer after layer of these patterns get laid down on a single chip.According to Willson, the chemical catalyst diffuses and there’s blurring of lines that should be sharp. Furthermore, a single machine of this type would cost $80 million, says Willson, putting production costs ludicrously high.