New Glass For Microchips

Heraeus Quarzglas of Germany has developed a new quartz glass for state-of-the-art stepper optics in the ultraviolet range of 193 nanometers. Its new product, Suprasil 401, has been approved for use by the optics manufacturer Carl Zeiss. Through steppers, very fine structures are applied by lithography onto silicon wafers. Heraeus has also developed an innovative coating material for thin film solar cells, to be applied to glass to enable photovoltaic cells to turn solar energy into electricity. (whole item)