Rochester Institute of Technology researchers are refining a method that uses the current generation of chip-making tools to produce smaller chips than previously thought possible with those tools using water, according to a PC World article. By running a small stream of water across a silicon wafer as the circuit lines are being etched into the chip, the current generation of lithography tools can produce circuits down to the 45 nanometer level due to the refractive properties of water, according to Bruce Smith, professor of microelectronics engineering and associate dean for graduate studies at RIT.
