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I work in the mask-making industry, and believe that a commercially viable technique for making x-ray masks is at least five years away. I have contacts at most large manufacturers of IC devices, and can tell you that although a few have x-ray programs, none believe that x-ray will be used within five years. Beyond that time line, no one can really tell. It may be that EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet), which is really in the "soft x-ray" region of the spectrum, will cause the delay of x-ray for another 5 years (total of ten). X-ray lithography was proposed as a solution more than five years ago. Each year that passes sees x-ray delayed by another year, which always makes it seem five years away. Some of the early boosters (Motorola, for example) have given up, for the time being. I may very well be wrong about th future, but this has been the past history. I would not place a large bet on x-ray to pay off in the next several years. |
