Flick,
He is right...Moore's law is becoming a guide. The reason being, that
the job of continuously shrinking geometries is becoming increasingly
difficult. We have reached a point in time when we are forced to use
wavelengths of light that are larger than the physical geometry
that we are imaging (point in case: 248nm for the most part will be
used for 0.25um (250nm) down to ~0.15um (150nm); where the previous generation of i-line (365nm) will be used for the most
part down to only 0.35um (350nm)).
The semi's know this, so they are pursuing parallel paths to
significantly boost their performance (i.e. faster materials like
copper; faster design architectures like Intel's new memory bit).
In addition, they are beginning an all out push in the next
generation of lithography (xray, euv, ion beam, SCALPEL, and
direct write e-beam), so that they will have some breathing room
again, sometime around 2003-2005.
TS |
