Nanolithosolutions of Carlsbad, California has licensed a technology process from HP Labs called nanoimprint lithography– a method of literally stamping out patterns of wires less than 50 atoms wide on a substrate. NIL technology has enabled the fabrication of laboratory prototype circuits with wire widths of 15 nanometers. "By building on HP"s extensive research in nanoimprint lithography, we believe we have a tool that will enable reliable, repeatable processes for exploring biochips, photonics chips and many other applications," said chief executive officer Bo Pi.
Nanolithosolutions has developed a tool based on HP"s technology, which consists of a module that fits into a mask aligner. The module is used to create the patterns for wires and transistors on a substrate. The tool is simple and inexpensive to use and turns commonly available mask aligners into high-resolution NIL machines. Once the NIL "master" is created, copies can be stamped out quickly and inexpensively. The patterns are then filled in with metals for the wires.