The U CSD Guardia Volume 49, Number 16 University of California, Laser Pushes Computer Technology into the 90's l3y THOMA ' RANKIN Nc\\ ~ Ed,tor 'Quant urn leap' IS a term design, make and tes l often, perhaps too often, used prototype and limited ­ to describe advances In production speciali zed circuits technolo&>,)'. In reference to a from weeks to a few hour..,. ne\\ Iy-de\eloped process of - A major thrust of the effort si li con chip imprinting, is to cou pl e the laser howe\'er, 'q uantum leap' is an pantography process \\ it h understatement Ix)rdering on both a computer laser th e grotesque. controller and another The process, labelled laser computer program thai pantography by its crl'atnr". dp"'lgns and performs the effectivel} renders current placement of the circuit on the chip technology obsolete and chip, prOl11heS acro"'" the-hoard A lotall\' automated sv!"otem changes for computers of the l'\en hold-... the promi ... e that future. Among th~' ad\ancl'll1- Po\\ erful computer systems ent :-: will be able to "reproduce" - :\1 0 I"l' than 1,f)O fold thern..,el\'l's without thl' I'l'duction !I1 SIZl', It \\111 be e,\tel""i\,e human part IClpa pos..,iblt·, rl'~l'ardH'ts ~a~, to tlO11 and effort nm\ reqUIred. ilhrrilJ\.· the CIrcuItry of ":-"C'\\ general Ions of ('\'('r t () d a) 's 111 0..; I p II \\' I: rf u I mon° p()\\t'rful COIllputt:r.., can COlllplIll'r ... onto it wafer of Ihtl ... c\'ol\'l' in tlays rather "llicOIl 11\ I' IIldll'~ in dianwler. Ihall in the \ ('iu-s Ihal Herman are leading the len­ Persona i COIllpU tel's of the llllTl'nt h ... epar~lte genera­ pl'r ... ol1 I('am \\orkll1g on la"er future u!'ing a single wafer of tion"," ;..aid Dr. Lowell \\'()()d. pantography a ... part of a thIS t \ pl' could l'astl~ ha\'t~ the h e ado r t h l' La \\ I' a nee cumhined lJepartTl1l'nt of p"\\'l'r of toda\ '" .... upl'rcompu­ LI\'('lmol'l' ~atl()l1al Lahora' Enl'r).,f\' iI )l)E) and I'S '.;an t t:r l'()S 11Ilg ,~I iI III i II ion. tory ILl \iU Special Studll's dillr t"1) clL'\ elop a nl'\\' typt' (;r - \\'11L'n lull~ liI:\ l'lopt'd, la"l'r Croup, \\ hlCh tll'\ eloped 11ll' III u 111'pn ICl',,;"'!)r "t1 pprcOIl1 pu pantogl aphy, LUupled 10 a pn,l'l'ss. IeI', the S-\. "J)l'cial computer ('I)eil.' for B<.'atin~ Japan .. \\' e need com pu t t'l'" I ha t ~aicl Carl lIau"'~mann, LL:-":L Tlw t r:Jdlllonal met hod h,r making Intl'!.,rrated nrcuits. L L N L Ph\' S III S t s H I' III l' are 100 10 I,OO() time" fa"tl'r A,,-;ociale DlIectr at Large, rnaklnl! IIltegrtl'd CIrcuIt" will reduce the time needed to i\lt \\tIltal11s -ancl !Jr. 11'\ lI1g 111,m thosl' no\\' a\'adable," "and are \'en'lntt'l'6Iecl In {'~ In\tJht'''' rep('dtcd eriC (! Cmerl1Illl'n: Indu ... tn·. and procc, "'c" .... uch a. phutu­ lllll\ er..,11 it'.., \\ (Irking t(;gl'lht'r, graphIc "I:>urning" (If the 111 as I hey art' 111 ]ap;lI1, 10 nm "urface, \.oatmg of thm Technology Repeats Itself ad\ anel' oUI' (,ountI'\' laY(,J"!"o of important dectri '<I capahtlil \ to make and lN' r'lCltenal , ape ('[chm,\."! a\~a\ B} THO;\IA~ RANKIN exposed 111 much the same " stacked" ()Oe ulxm tht L'\l'r pO\\l'rful . U!Jl'rCqmpu 1I'1\\ ,1nt('C1 W'(';) E"'pl'l'wlh h)r Nc\" Editor \\ay as a photogl'aph, other, until the ctlrnpleted Il'r .... prot (I) pt Clreul! ... the prpce... Sometimes, stepping back ()\ erlaid with a negative and chip IS formed. CUITl'nl ",upt'rc(pnput er .. 1 .. I()\~. c\pcn .. i\ t and, \\ or t i" moving forward. uch is l'an pl'l'form up 10 (;0 1111111l1!' Of all VILld ,I n 1,1tl\ l'h 1)\\ exposed to an intense light Irol1lca ll } , this process the cast' for laser panto­ source. The plate is then mathemallcal operatllll)'" a i rae lIon III u, cl ble \,1 reUl' graph); it· straIghtforward makes for a large in\'est· ..,t'L'on<1, about a..., fa ... t a~ tht ;\lo"t are "horn dt'cld" treated WIth chemicals that ment of tIme and creates a method of chip creation ent Ire human I'dCP an I~rl'\ OC;:, '11\ d,lIl1 I!!l-rl cll 'I I r !l ush off the une'\posed many harkenIng bark to the great unusable chips. COIlllHltl U~lng po~'k(:t 'he 1.1 'Xli' -'lI 1,J"{II.~" .,. areas of the emulsion , The <.;ahation of the printed archaic lechnology of the cakulatt'r ... 'HId at IUI"t ill,()Oi) In c JIltra .... t he I' l'~n ()It I('a\'ing the deSIred image work is t he bane of t Iw Guttenberg press, in t act. 111I1t'" la"'lt'r thdn tod;n ... 'J"er pan'ograpl \ (j /~,. J,H~ Current chip technology computer indu..,try. pt r:-onal c()tl1puter~. 'I;hl' ... Ihm" potl·ntldl to ){ :':' The actual process cur­ Laser pantography can t race It... root s back to rently used to create a 11l'\\ 1.1 \ l'rmon' pI Pl'e,,'" COli Icl direct ,Ind It \ t'r Ibll' the dawn of the printing eltminates the necd for grl'atl~ 1I1Crt',bt' I he numbel- of d( ... tgn I' l h,mgt'c d ,t' mIcrochip is qlllte complex, reticles . photnre..,ist, age. The pnnted \\ord was but a SImplified look shows :-UPI'l"Clllllpult:r ... a\ atl.lblt' for CIrCUli can hl' 1'~,lOl.t I I'll ", created by linll1g up slugs metallIC coatIngs, a nd , u~t', :-horten th(' tlmt' "cratl h.I' ,I PlI"I.t:"t I'- '11,lrl' t It s close ties with both indeed, the whole dr(\\\n· WIt h raised images of the photography and offset neCl's"ary to dl'\ dOll Impro\ l'tI l all h t'r:l"l'd a nC! lorn • etl ()U t proce s current Iy desired letters carved into printing.. computer ... ,md drarnallcall~ La"er pa'1togr.lpln In\ )'H' them. Drawings, howe\'er, employed (sec 1.l(('()lJIpaJ/YIJIg reduce I heir co;..!. "Thl rl' rapId n'aC'lOn" lI,,'ng t"tl'n l were printed differently, First, a glass "negatl\'e" ,'/01"\'). A laser \\'I th an art' about I ()() "'Upl'H'UmpUll'r", grl'ell la:-('r hght dl~ectl'd o',t the image etched into a (called a reticle) i. designed intensity a billion times 111 U:-l' 111 lilt' \\'orld toda \' . ...11 Icon "urfc( \\' h dI1 block of metal three­ by computer engineers in greater than the sun etche~ ifaussll1ann ... ald. "I l'lIllld Il1ll'I1;"II) d htl'l,n t line ... the desired pattern, The cltmensional ly , the ink­ the three-dimensional Imagint' \() of I he~l' la",('1' .l! I l' a t l' r I han 11 (I ) n t I 1I11 coated upper edges tran - si licon blank itself is then c;;tructure directly onto the pantography un!l;.. in a singlt' . unltght. At llOle", \ anoll' (erring the picture to paper. heated and coaled with a chip. Gas "filters" in the room \\ ith each maklI1g on I.' ga"t''' an' lIlt r()dut'(~d \11[,) ,I The development of special light -se nsitive laser impart the desired supercompuler stlil'tln \\aft'r a reaCllon chamber TIll' la"er I photography brought that substance called "photore­ electrical properties directly da\'. That could lllean :->t'\'l'ral pul;"l'd on and (IiI "'llla~t thm crude process to an sist" and an ultraviolet to the silicon itself. Errors the/usand ne\\ ~upl'rcornputt'r react ion prCllr onl\" III the unlamented end. Almost all light is shone through the are almost impossible and I11odull'!"o could be built in that center of Ih fOl'u~ed la"l'r of today's newspapers and reticle to expose the desired the process is quick. Olll' room \I1 a year "pOI. aboul (lnt' mIcron 1:1 magazines are printed on an pattern onto the chip. painless. Fast and O-irect I11Illlonth of a \111.·ler ui al llli offset press, allowing crisp, When developed, most of From carving images into ,\ n Intl'grall'd I.lrnlll I~ om' 1\\ enl\ li\ t'·thou:-andth of accurate printing in a the photoresist is flushed lead, through the whole I11erel\' a tlll~, Ihln Pll'Cl' oj a an lOch) -111 dlal11eler. Thl'" fract ion of the time of the away, but the de ired process of light sensitive pdt, C t !"o iii con l' I' ~ ~ I a I ('qu,ll.. till' rt':-oiul lUll of lalx)r-intensi\'e process of pattern (as defined by the coatings, and them back to emhia/OIwd into a "laCK 01 current Intl'gr.lIl·d C1I'\'ll'l arranging individual pieces reticle) remains. The chip is the carver, a computer­ in t r i I. a It' p a I I l' I' n ;.. E a ( h t l'd1l1()I()g~ . demanded . then coated with whatever guided laser t hal can impart "'l'Cllon 01 the patlern ha ... till' The Inll''''(' It~ht ... U!wr!wab The basis of offset metal IS deemed to possess intelligence to a lump of "lwl'lal l'll'l'l neal proper! Il'~ thl' "lIll'on "urtal(' fo: "lIl h print ing is a thin sheet of the electrical propertIes crvstallized "and 1n a Ill'l'(kd III fnlm tlwlran"t...tnr .