Getting Physical

Among Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s current research and development projects is an effort to shape the next generation of integrated circuits. Researchers are talking about reducing sixfold the scale of features that can be rendered in silicon, from about 180 nanometers now, down to about 30. Although Livermore’s primary work is research in physics, it is mechanical engineering that moves theory. Now the lab’s precision engineering has leapfrogged from the nuclear arsenal to the public sector, with the development of a cutting-edge manufacturing system for producing computer chips. An ultraclean deposition system, developed by the Livermore Lab and Veeco Industries, is a move toward the next generation of integrated circuits. Intel, AMD, Motorola, Infineon, and Micron Technology formed a holding company, EUV Limited Liability Co. Roughly a quarter-billion dollar from this group is funding work at three national labs together—Sandia, Lawrence Berkeley, and Lawrence Livermore—to develop the technology for producing the next generation of computer chips.