[ Return to Special Projects ] Optical Lithography and the Future of Microprocessors Jason Rauscher University of Sioux Falls April 17, 1998 ABSTRACT For 35 years, "Moore's Law," which states that the number of transistors on microprocessors will double every eighteen months, has proved true. But now, people fear that Moore's Law may be broken because the laws of physics and economics have built a virtual wall that will eventually limit how many more transistors companies are going to be able to put on their processors. Optical Lithography is the current process used to etch processor features onto the silicon wafers. In this process super-ultraviolet light is shined through a pattern mask which activates a light sensitive chemical on the silicon creating a kind of stencil for the processor features. This process is beginning to show some of its limitations, however. The S-UV light's wavelength isn't short enough to allow for smaller features to be etched into the silicon, so companies are starting to look for alternatives to the S-UV light, including the $25 million synchrotron x-ray generator. The economic risk that would be taken by any company wanting to use the new technologies, however, would not outweigh the benifits the company would receive from the new tecnologies.