Consumers take it for granted that their mobile phones and laptops will get faster and more powerful with each generation. After all, the semiconductor industry has always made it so, by doubling the number of transistors it can fit onto a microchip every couple of years. But current techniques are reaching their limit. Now, the industry is racing to develop an economically viable way to etch even smaller features onto microchips. The solution could be a technique called extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, which uses very-short-wavelength light to create features that are four times finer than those on current microchips. But overcoming the chemistry, physics and engineering challenges involved is costing the industry billions of dollars.
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