VLSI and other solid-state devices: New fabrication technologies put us on the threshold of a quantum jump in IC complexity

Hopes for advancement in semiconductor-chip density and complexity beyond present large-scale-integration (LSI) levels received a major boost last year. Fabrication techniques — ever the key to future integrated circuits — advanced to the point where semiconductor manufacturers are now within sight of a long sought goal: achievement of submicrometer feature sizes on a monolithic integrated circuit (IC)thereby providing a key capability for approaching the ultimate limits in IC complexity.