Nuclear Fusion Research Key to Advancing Computer Chips
by Emil Venere
Nuclear engineer Ahmed Hassanein works at his Purdue lab, where researchers are adapting the same methods used in fusion-energy research to develop a new type of "nanolithography" for creating future computer chips. (Purdue University photo/Vincent Walter)
Researchers are adapting the same methods used in fusion-energy research to create extremely thin plasma beams for a new class of “nanolithography” required to make future computer chips.
Current technology uses ultraviolet light to create the fine features in computer chips in a process called photolithography, which involves projecting the image of a mask onto a light-sensitive material, then chemically etching the resulting pattern.
New nanolithography will be needed to continue advances in computer technology and to extend Moore’s law, an unofficial rule stating that the number of transistors on integrated circuits, or chips, doubles about every 18 months.
“We can’t make devices much smaller using conventional lithography, so we have to find ways of creating beams having more narrow wavelengths,” said Ahmed Hassanein, the Paul L. Wattelet Professor of Nuclear Engineering and head of Purdue’s School of Nuclear Engineering. (more…)
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