Universities to Pursue Laser Research Under NSF Grant

To develop extreme-UV laser technologies that will be used in the fabrication of much smaller, more powerful computer circuits and other advanced nanotechnologies, three US universities have received a $17 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The research will be conducted at the foundation's new Engineering Research Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Science and Technology, based at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, in collaboration with the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of California, Berkeley.

The center will investigate and exploit the use of short-wavelength light in the EUV region of the electromagnetic spectrum for scientific and industrial purposes. Among its objectives is to support industries that plan to use EUV radiation to produce computers roughly 10 times faster than current technologies by 2009. Other long-term goals include creating biological soft x-ray microscopy that can image details in individual living cells, and making compact EUV laser light sources at much shorter wavelengths, reducing their scale to desktop and possibly laptop size.

Designed to coordinate university, industrial and government research and development, the program encompasses an education and outreach plan to stimulate interest in the emerging technologies.