Abstract

High-resolution optical lithography made possible the integrated circuit revolution of the last decade. As the size of individual circuit elements continues to shrink, however, microelectronic technology begins to approach the fundamental limits of conventional optics. Attempts to transcend these limits with electron-beam and x-ray lithography have encountered difficulties of their own. This paper reviews our program to extend the limits of optical lithography by substituting phase conjugation for reflective and refractive image projection.

© 1981 Optical Society of America