Abstract

Soft x-rays of ~ 1nm wavelength are a strong contender for the production of 1Gbit DRAM microchips which require transistor gates of ~ 180nm width (Ref. 1). Compact synchrotrons, generating tens of watts of x-rays per beam into ten beams or more, will constitute the main source for large-scale production of such microchips. Nevertheless, such machines require a relatively large initial investment, occupy extensive factory space and have a relatively high running cost. Therefore, smaller, laboratory size, x-ray sources will be required to generate the power of only one synchrotron beam to be used either by large companies for R&D work or by small companies with limited production.

© 1995 Optical Society of America