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To: BillyG who wrote (21657)	4/12/1999 12:56:00 PM
From: ScotMcI	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25960

China agrees to drop tariffs on chips, fab gear, systems Wonder how much advanced fab gear can be exported to a Communist country? This seems like the sort of thing the feds like to limit. (Of course, it might help that the People's Liberation Army is a major campaign contributor.)

To: BillyG who wrote (21657)	4/27/1999 12:35:00 PM
From: jbn3	Respond to of 25960

Bell Labs uses optical lithography to make 0.08-micron device SemiConductor Business News, 27-APR-99 (please excuse if already posted) semibiznews.com MURRAY HILL, NJ -- Bell Labs researchers at Lucent Technologies Inc. here today announced they have produced the smallest working electronic device ever made with optical photolithography. The experimental flash memory cell has a minimum drawn feature size of just 80 nanometers, or 0.08 micron, according to researchers. To produce the flash device, the researchers used 193-nm optical lithography system from Ultratech Stepper Inc. The system is a laboratory R&D tool and not viable for production. Bell Labs researchers used phase-shift photomasks to printed a flash memory cell measuring 80 by 160 nm. While the minimum drawn feature size was 80 nm, the effective gate length (L-effective) was in the range of 50 nm, based on computer models, said researcher Ray Cirelli. Interestingly, Bell Labs is also aggressively pursuing non-optical exposure technology for chip production with device feature sizes in the same range as the experimental flash device. Lucent Technologies has teamed with Applied Materials Inc. and ASM Lithography Holding N.V. to accelerate development of its Scalpel electron-beam technology as a post-optical tool in the next decade. Scalpel was invented by Bell Labs in 1989. "The Scalpel system will have a great deal more process latitude than the optical lithography system at these resolutions," noted researcher Cirelli. To produce the experimental 0.08-micron device with optical light, researchers said they have developed a new class of resist materials, based on cyclo-olefin maleic anhydride chemistry. This chemistry results in a balance between the resist's transparency and stability during process steps, according to researchers. Bell Labs said another key aspect of development was the creation of a light-absorbing material deposited as a thin layer between the resist and the silicon wafer. This is placed on the wafer during the early stages of the process. The material absorbs the light that passes through the resist, reducing any unwanted reflections from the silicon wafer below, according to researchers. "This achievement provides technology that Lucent's semiconductor business can put to immediate use in developing future generations of communications integrated circuits, including ultrafast digital signal processors and high-performance systems-on-a-chip," said Mark Pinto, chief technical officer for Lucent's Microelectronics Group. --J. Robert Lineback