Amazing Photochemistry!

Did you know that integrated circuits or "chips" can be made with light? Ross H. Hill at Simon Fraser University has developed a new photochemical method to produce circuits. The new technique involves covering a spinning wafer with a solution containing the metal molecules required to make the circuit. Once covered, the wafer is irradiated with a specific wavelength of light in the desired circuit pattern. The metal sticks to the wafer in the pattern of the light while the coating that remains on the surface decomposes. The circuit is made!

This method has the potential for large scale commercialization and has caught the eye of the semiconductor industry because it is simpler and faster than conventional photochemical methods. Other advantages are the temperatures used are relatively low, the deposition has higher resolution and the method is compatible with current procedures and equipment. Hill has patented this technology and licensed it to AZ Photoresist Products, a division of Hoechst Celanese Corp. of Somerville, NJ.