"Intel Corp. has revised its lithography strategy for the second time in the recent months, disclosing it has dropped 157-nm tools from its roadmap and is not pursuing the (157-nm) scanner technology for IC production. The move is expected to impact fab-tool and material vendors developing 157-nm products for Intel.’’ Reported by Mark LaPedus in Semiconductor Business News on May 23, 2003." The impact is indeed significant. There are estimates that the scanner tool suppliers have spent in the hundreds of millions of dollars on 157-nm lithography. They are not the only ones left holding the bag. There are suppliers for optical materials, photoresists, antireflection coatings, ellipsometers, pellicles, mask blanks, mask inspection, and repair tools. All of a sudden, Intel is blamed for their losses in development costs and potential profits. Can an industrial giant like Intel bend the laws of physics or the laws of materials? Can we solve the 157-nm problems by spending another billion dollars on it? If we did succeed, would the technology still be economically viable?
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