Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1515637
56 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2024 microns, or 3-mil line and space. Some folks can get down to 2 and 2, but it isn't without some chal- lenge and yield penalty. is tech- nology allows us to get below 25 microns, a present semi-additive capability in Asia. From what we hear, they tend to struggle at 25 microns; it's certainly not a slam dunk. is technology allows us to take it even further into the 15- to 12 ½-micron range. Ultimately, Averatek is working on the next generation of products in the 5-micron range—the semicon- ductor range. With packaged substrates, they would all love to have that capability today. So, 25 microns is 1-mil? Yes. Then sub-1-mil is 15 microns down to 5. It's almost hard to believe that we can get there. How long until this process comes out? I've already run down to 15 microns in a fab facility. It's doable and certainly with yield. at's the amazing part. We're actually headed that way ourselves in the not-too-distant future. Is Figure 2 a visual reference of what you just talked about? Right. e first spiral is a repre- sentation of the 3-mil line and space and that's done in a subtrac- tive format. With the 25-micron, you now get a 9x increase in den- sity. You can see that line is pretty uniform and then you go to the 12.5-micron—a half-mil line and space. You look at that under a scope, and it is beautiful. I've seen some of your samples and you're right that you have to use some high magnifi- cation to even see this definition. Absolutely. It is very hard to see. You can't use a 10-power eyepiece and expect to see it very easily. How has the design community accepted and used this, putting out new designs that fabri- cators like American Standard have to build? at's where things are still largely in the devel- opment stage. ere are a lot of designers who are looking at it. e DoD already has designs out there, but it's about bringing this to the marketplace with designs geared for the fine Figure 2. John Johnson