Smaller Chips? Just Add Water

Researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology are refining a method that uses the current generation of chip-making tools to produce smaller chips than previously thought possible with those tools. The key ingredient happens to be one of the most commonly available substances on the planet. 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 45nm level due to the refractive properties of water