IBM Develops 29.9nm Circuit

Online staff -- Electronic News, 2/21/2006

IBM researchers have claimed a way to extend traditional chip-manufacturing processes to generate smaller chip circuits, potentially postponing the semiconductor industry’s high-risk conversion to an alternative.

IBM scientists have created high-quality line patterns using deep-ultraviolet (DUV) 193nm optical lithography for spaced ridges 29.9nm wide, below the 32nm point that industry consensus held as the limit for optical lithography techniques.

According to IBM, the new result indicate that a "high-index immersion" variant of DUV lithography may provide a path for extending Moore’s Law further, thus buying the industry time before it is forced to upgrade.

"Our goal is to push optical lithography as far as we can so the industry does not have to move to any expensive alternatives until absolutely necessary," said Dr. Robert D. Allen, manager of lithography materials at IBM’s Almaden Research Center, in a statement. "This result is the strongest evidence to date that the industry may have at least seven years of breathing room before any radical changes in chip-making techniques would be needed."

The 29.9nm lines and spaces were created on a lithography test apparatus designed and built at IBM Almaden, using new materials developed by its collaborator, JSR Micro.

"We believe that high-index liquid imaging will enable the extension of today’s optical lithography through the 45- and 32-nanometer technology nodes," said Mark Slezak, technical manager of JSR Micro, in the statement. "Our industry faces tough questions about which lithography technology will allow us to be successful below 32 nanometers. This new result gives us another data point favoring the continuation of optical immersion lithography."

The first technical details of the 29.9nm circuit will be presented this week at the SPIE Microlithography 2006 conference in San Jose.