Bilberry - That is a very important article. First of all, according to what they say, SEMATECH "blew it" a couple of years ago when they decided to concentrate on EUV and SCALPEL rather than on Point-source X-ray Lithography (PXL):
This situation is the result of a decision two years ago by International SEMATECH to "narrow the options" for NGL. Although it was clear that PXL was further developed and more mature than EPL or EUV, it was decided that the industry's limited resources should be focused on EUV and SCALPEL. Although the text of the decision implied the preservation of PXL technology, the effect was to kill synchrotron-based PXL development and infrastructure in the United States. That decision was influenced[and don't you love this -- in other words, big egos were involved] by complex intercompany competitions and personal factors, and is subject to well-known human limitations, including fallibility.
They conclude by saying:
Meanwhile, the efforts on PXL via point-source systems, if successful in their targeted niche markets, may eventually prove invaluable to the semiconductor industry.
In other words, if JMAR succeeds in it's development of a point-source, they will be in the "catbird" seat, as no one else will have anything to compete with them for at least several years. It's too bad they couldn't get JMAR's name right (they used J-MAR) in the article, and also they attributed most of the development of PXL to SAL -- and not JMAR. Where did you find the article, Bilberry? Maybe we should contact the author. |
