We're running into a barrier that we've run up against several times before: the limits of opticallithography.
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For the past few years, the chip industry has examined several alternatives to opticallithography, none of which have proven viable.
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Most semiconductor manufacturers use a process known as opticallithography, where lasers imprint patterns on silicon wafers with features as small as 90 nanometres.
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Today's chipmaking techniques, known as opticallithography, are akin to printing a picture: Scientists make a "mask" with the pattern they want on the chip.