Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer - 2003

Department of Energy
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Sandia National Laboratories

Years ago, it would have taken a roomful of hardware to match the computing power of today's average laptop computer. One key to progress has been the steady improvement in ultraviolet lithography, the photographic process used to print integrated circuits on computer chips. However, current lithographic technology has reached its limit because its lenses absorb the shortwave extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) needed to print even small chips. A team from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories - working together as the Virtual National Laboratory (VNL) - has developed a next-generation lithography called Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL). This technology overcomes the problems of older lithography by using coated mirrors, rather than lenses, to bend and focus the light. As a result, microprocessors can be made that are 10 times faster, with active transistors and memory chips that can store 40 times more information.

EUVL technology and its associated knowledge has been transferred under a CRADA to the Extreme Ultraviolet Limited Liability Company (EUV LLC), a consortium whose members include Advanced Micro Devices, IBM, Infineon, Intel, Micron Technologies, and Motorola. As a result of the CRADA, the technology is making the transition into commercialization.

EUVL will benefit the general public by improving the quality of life through more efficient consumer products and smart machinery, breakthroughs in biotechnology and materials science, and continuing advances in personal computers and the Internet.

Contact: David Attwood, (510) 486-4463, DTAttwood@lbl.gov