Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/01/09

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Subject: [Leica] Re: [ OFF TOPIC ] photolithography
From: Jim Brick <jim@brick.org>
Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1999 17:50:43 -0800

No. Back in the old days, when computer (logic) chips were made from masks,
quite often laid out by hand, they were photographed (layer by layer) with
a special process camera, reducing them a million times or more, using
special optics that were designed entirely for the green spectrum, and
appropriate lights were used to illuminate the master. Of course, that was
then. Now it is all done via computer. Design on a Sun workstation, route
and tape-out via computer programs, directly to the fab process. Think of
it like the new printing presses that don't need plates. Use a digital
camera to photograph a product, Page Maker to lay it out, trapp, etc, then
send the o/p file directly to the press which electrostatically generates
plate images from the digital file. No film, camera, separations,
halftones, etc... (the old stuff) involved.

Basically, semiconductor photolithography equipment was a niche market,
which is now non-existent.

Jim

At 08:34 PM 1/9/99 -0500, you wrote:
>At 17:19 -0800 09/01/99, Berg Na wrote:
>[ . . . ] Canon and Nikon are currently
>the only major suppliers of semiconductor photolithography equipment
>with unmatched resolution capabilities.
>[ . . . ]
>	Though off topic, what do these machines serve for ?
>	Something like Linotronic ???
>	Sorry, I have to learn somewhere...
>
>	AJQ
>
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