The Semiconductor Industry’s Most Important Tool Goes Green

In the complex quest to keep increasing the density of transistors, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is the most critical tool. Costing more than US $100 million, these trailer-size systems bounce near x-ray wavelength light off of a complex cascade of mirrors and onto silicon wafers to create patterns with nanometer-scale precision. Because the system’s 13.5-nanometer light is absorbed by air, the whole mechanism exists in a vacuum. Well, almost.