Quantum lithography

Summary form only given. Roughly every eighteen months the number of transistors which fit on a micro-chip doubles. This has become to be known as Moore´s Law. For years, this law has been correct, not in the least because the computer industry uses it as a production target. However, can this explosive increase in computing power be sustained in the future?. Computer manufacturers use optical lithography to print transistors on micro-chips. Since classical light cannot resolve features which are smaller than its wavelength, these transistors have a minimum size. It thus seems that the miniaturisation race does have to finish. However, this barrier turns out to be very much a classical barrier. The rules of nature all change when we exploit quantum effects. In collaboration with researchers from JPL in California we have developed a method called quantum lithography. It can be used to break through the miniaturisation barrier by using entangled photons. Currently, the method is still theoretical, but experimental progress is being made towards a full implementation of quantum lithography.