IBM has been awarded a $17.4m contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency through the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, to develop an X-ray mask manufacturing tehnology and demonstrate sub-micron chips using X-ray lithography: IBM says that under a later phase of the programme yet to be awarded, X-ray masks in 0.25 micron geometries will be developed and used to demonstrate 0.25 micron chips; the team effort involves the IBM Systems Integration Division, IBM General Technology Division, and IBM Research Division with IBM Manassas responsible for pilot line chip demonstration and project management, IBM Burlington supplying the X-ray masks, and IBM East Fishkill the X-ray exposure source – at East Fishkill, an Advanced Lithograph Facility now under construction will house an electron storage synchrotron ring for future X-ray lithography development work – being developed for the company by Oxford Instruments Plc – and the ring may be used in later phases of the contract, although existing X-ray lithography ports at the Brookhaven Laboratory will be used in the initial phase of the contract.
