The most ambitious British project in the field of chip fabrication, the effort by Oxford Instruments Plc to develop a compact synchrotron to generate X-rays for etching of sub-micron integrated circuits in combination with wafer steppers, is scheduled to take a giant leap forward next month with the delivery of the first of the Oxford shrinkotrons to IBM’s East Fishkill, New York semiconductor plant. According to Electronic News, the Helios synchrotron ring will be assembled behind concrete walls several feet thick to shield workers from radiation. The Helios is capable of driving about 16 wafer steppers, and IBM expects to start using it on the 256M-bit memory chip generation in around 1998. Oxford says that the Helios rings cost about $25m, and are available on 30 to 36 months’ delivery.
