IBM has donated a $1m Vector-Scan-1 used in making advanced integrated circuits with record-small features to the University of California at Santa Barbara: it uses an electron beam to write patterns onto semiconductor surfaces, and IBM donated the instrument to the college’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, in support of Quest, the Center for Quantised Electronic Structures; QUEST is a national science and technology centre, and its purpose is to explore the potential of quantum electronic devices; in its current configuration, the instrument can scribe lines as thin as 1,000 Angstroms and it will be upgraded shortly to produce lines 100 Angstroms wide.
