Predicting the Lifetime of Extreme UV Optics

NIST Tech Beat, 13 Jul 2005 Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) may be the next-generation patterning technique used to produce smaller and faster microchips with feature sizes of 32 nanometers and below. However, durable projection optics must be developed before this laboratory technique can become commercially viable. As part of its long-standing effort to develop EUVL metrology and calibration services, the National Institute of Standards and Technology is creating a measurement system for accelerated lifetime testing of the mirrors used in EUVL. Read more