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Nanoimprint Lithography
An anonymous submitter writes "According to BBC News, researchers at Princeton have developed a die-stamp method for chip fabs. The Princeton site claims they've got to 10nm already. The professor in charge has told BBC News Online that they're '20 years ahead of Moore's Law.' Dubious claims aside, it looks like a handy way to bring down prices even if it doesn't improve ultimate top speed."
Moore's law really has nothing to do with speed even though people think it does.
/ mooreslaw.html
"More than 25 years ago, when Intel was developing the first microprocessor, company cofounder Gordon Moore predicted that the number of transistors on a microprocessor would double approximately every 18 months. To date, Moore's law has proven remarkably accurate. "
From : http://www.cnet.com/Resources/Info/Glossary/Terms
10 nm == .01 microns last time I looked.
1 nm = 1e-9 m
1 micron = 1e-6 m
I drink to prepare for a fight; tonight I'm very prepared. -Soda Popinksi
"just how dirty is the current process?"
Have you ever been to a chip fabrication lab? Those places are nasty; cyanide emergency kits on the walls, phosgene and arsine gases. Bad stuff.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Every day, diffraction gratings are created with about 1nm accuracy using macroscopic tools. My father designed one which does just that. It is not impossible to imagine, therefore, that arbitrary features could similarily be scribed.
The machines which create the diffraction gratings are called ruling engines, and, not unlike the methods used to stamp metal currency, the masters are used to make duplicates which then are used to make the work tools. Each stage can be replicated N times, so while there is a limited lifetime of the entire process, N^3 can be quite large.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.