Two-Laser Lithography Shrinks Transistors on the Cheap

Engineers are near the outer limits of what can be done with optical lithography, the process by which light shone through a patterned mask defines the fine structures of microprocessors and memory chips. Now three teams of optics experts have independently hit upon what could turn out to be a way to extend optical lithography¿s use¿and, what¿s even more critical, to do it cheaply.