Jump to...
Columns:
Advanced Software and Technologies
BYTE Media Lab
Chaos Manor
Conference Reports
Features
Free Features
Gigglebytes
Letters to BYTE.com
Mr. Computer Language Person
New Products
Op/Ed
Portable Computing
Serving with Linux
The Upgrade Advisor
June 1996
/
Inbox
/ Synchrotrons Are Simple
In the enjoyable article on the future of computing,
"When Silicon Hits Its Limits, What's Next?"
(April), you state, "Finally, there is the issue of having a reliable X-ray source."
Ouch! Since 1992, IBM's Helios 1, located in Fishkill, New York, has had an average uptime of about 97 percent. The Helios 1 ring has only two moving parts, and in its support systems the major moving parts are water pumps to cool magnet
s and the like. This is the key to its reliability; additional redundancy against breakdowns can easily be implemented.
There is a cost issue, but the cost of a synchrotron light source to 20 steppers is in line with stepper costs of $5 million to $8 million each and is competitive with the cost of laser systems, which can run in excess of $2 million per stepper.
A
lan J. Weger, site manager
Helios 1 Synchrotron
The article did state that IBM is using X-ray lithography for research in chip design, but we didn't make clear that the real problem with an on-site synchrotron is its operating expense. Such expenses aren't trivial, but they are certainly much less than the total cost of a fab. Unfortunately, in my conversations with IBM personnel, they did not point out the presence of the Helios facility.--Tom Thompson, senior technical editor at large
Matthew Wilson more...
BYTE Digest editors every month analyze and evaluate the best articles from Information Week , EE Times , Dr. Dobb's Journal , Network Computing , Sys Admin ,
and dozens of other CMP publications—bringing
you critical news and information about wireless communication,
computer security, software development, embedded systems,
and more!
Find out more
Synchrotrons Are Simple
