Abstract

The cost of fabricating state-of-the-art integrated circuits (ICs) has been increasing and it will likely be economic rather than technical factors that ultimately limit the progress of ICs toward smaller devices. It is estimated that lithography currently accounts for approximately one-third the total cost of fabricating modern ICs⁽¹⁾. It is expected that this factor will be fairly stable for the forseeable future, and as a result, any lithographic process must be cost-effective before it can be considered for production. Additionally, the capital equipment cost for a new fabrication facility is growing at an exponential rate⁽²⁾; it will soon require a multibillion dollar investment in capital equipment alone to build a manufacturing facility.

© 1994 Optical Society of America