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Semiconductors

NIST Uncovers Potential Problem for Semiconductor Lithography

NIST researchers have uncovered a potentially serious optical problem affecting designs for future generations of semiconductor manufacturing equipment using “deep ultraviolet” light. The “Moore’s Law” phenomenon—
the doubling of chip complexity with each generation—has been possible largely because of continual advances in lithography, allowing manufacturers to image and process integrated circuits with smaller and smaller dimensions. Reaching very small dimensions requires using very short-wavelength light. Current state-of-the-art production processes use deep ultraviolet lasers at 248 and 193 nanometers to image circuits with critical features as small as 130 to 150 nanometers. The next major steps for lithography are expected to be systems using 157-nanometers light, ultimately achieving feature sizes in the range of 70 nanometers.

Some of the optics for 193-nanometer and all of the optics for 157-nanometer lithography are made of calcium fluoride, one of only a few materials that are transparent at 157 nanometers. NIST physicist John Burnett recently showed that calcium fluoride is inherently birefringent in the deep ultraviolet—meaning that the crystal refracts light differently depending on the polarization of the light. NIST physicists Eric Shirley and Zachary Levine confirmed these results theoretically.

The practical import for designers is that a calcium fluoride lens will not focus properly without, at the very least, careful control of the light as it enters the lens and a design that accounts for this intrinsic birefringence. This is a difficult problem given that there are about 20 such lens elements in a typical “stepper” or optical lithography lens. The modeling software used to design such systems is being modified to account for the effects of birefringenc, but it is not expected to be ready until October.

NIST researchers are pursuing potential solutions to the problem involving mixed crystals to compensate for the birefringence effect. Details of Burnett’s findings were first made public at the International SEMATECH-sponsored International Symposium on 157-nanometer Lithography.

Media Contact:
Michael Baum, (301) 975-2763

 

 

Information Technology

NIST Seeks Comments on Security Risk Management Guide

One of the greatest computer security challenges faced by government agencies and businesses is figuring out how much is too much.

Doing nothing in the age of hackers and viruses is unwise. Still, spending too much time and money trying to thwart every conceivable computer security threat simply drains resources.

Computer scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have drafted a risk management guide that helps managers sort out all the issues and set priorities. The document gives suggestions about how to approach risk assessment and mitigation in a computer security context.

It is organized by the three phases of an ongoing risk management process: performing a risk assessment, addressing the mitigation of that risk and evaluating the results. The guide also contains two appendices: a glossary of terms and a sample outline to use in documenting results.

A draft of the guide is available at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/drafts.html. NIST’s Computer Security Division is accepting public comments on the document until August 15, 2001. These should be sent to Gary Stoneburner, NIST, 100 Bureau Dr., Stop 8930, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-8930; gary.stoneburner@nist.gov. A final version of the guide is expected by the end of the year.

Media Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661

 

 

 

Chemistry

NIST Smooths Transition to ‘Safe,’ Energy-Efficient Refrigeration

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has contributed significantly to the refrigeration industry through its work with “alternative” refrigerants for the past 14 years, and the effort is paying off.

When it became known that chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons in refrigerants were contributing to depletion of the earth’s protective ozone layer, NIST began a program (funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences and Office of Building Technologies) to measure the properties of their replacements. These data have been made available through a computer program known as NIST Standard Reference Database 23: Thermodynamic and Transport Properties of Refrigerants and Refrigerant Mixtures Database (or REFPROP for REFrigerant PROPerties).

Some 1,500 copies of REFPROP have been distributed over the years and it continues to be a timely and valuable tool for refrigeration engineers, chemical and equipment manufacturers, and others who use refrigerants. Version 6.0 now provides data on 33 pure refrigerants, as well as refrigerant mixtures.

But the database’s real impact has been in facilitating the design of more energy-efficient cooling equipment. In 1999, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that new, non-CFC chillers used to cool large buildings reduced U.S. energy costs by $480 million annually (which corresponds to an improvement in energy efficiency of 35 percent).

“Accurate property data are essential for optimizing efficiency, and the entire NIST refrigerants program over its 14 year duration would be paid for by a single year’s savings resulting from a single percentage point gain in energy efficiency for this single class [non-CFC chillers] of refrigeration equipment,” says a new technical paper from NIST.

For a copy of this paper (26-01), contact Sarabeth Harris, NIST, MC104, Boulder, Colo., 80305-3328; (303) 497-3237; sarabeth@boulder.nist.gov. The REFPROP database may be ordered via the World Wide Web at http://www.nist.gov/srd/nist23.htm.

Media Contact:
Fred McGehan, (303) 497-3246

 

 

 

Materials

Project on Corn-Derived Polymers Wins R&D Award

A technology for producing commercially useful polymers from corn-derived dextrose, which was developed with support from NIST's Advanced Technology Program, has been selected for one of Discover Magazine’s 2001 Innovation Awards. Discover cited Cargill Dow LLC for the development of polylactide polymer (known as PLA), a polymer resin that is derived from natural plant sugars, on June 12, 2001.

These are the first polymers entirely derived from an annually renewable resource to compete head-to-head in the market with polymers made from coal or oil. PLA can now be used for clothing, carpets, compostable packaging and other products. Cargill researchers used a 1994 ATP award to develop manufacturing and other methods that modify the new family of polymers. Now, important new properties necessary are available for a viable commercial product without losing the environmentally friendly properties that made the polymer attractive in the first place.

The Discover Magazine Innovation Awards were established in 1990 to “honor scientists whose groundbreaking work will change the way we live.” The award recognizing PLA—one of nine awards made by the magazine this year—was presented to Patrick Gruber, vice president and chief technology officer of Cargill Dow, who led the research effort to develop PLA.

Further information on Cargill Dow and PLA can be found on the web at http://www.cdpoly.com. More information on the Advanced Technology Program is available at http://www.atp.nist.gov.

Media Contact:
Michael Baum, (301) 975-2763

 

 

 

Computer Security

New Security Standard for Federal Agencies Effective in November

Computer security experts at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have developed a new standard for information scrambling products used by civilian federal agencies. The standard, NIST Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2, Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules, becomes effective November 25, 2001.

Computer security products used by agencies for sensitive, unclassified information must be certified under the new FIPS standard. It replaces a standard, 140-1, that had been in place since 1994.

Accredited private sector laboratories have tested and validated more than 150 cryptographic modules as conforming to the existing standard. Indeed, the list is a “who’s who” of cryptographic and information technology vendors and developers from the United States, Canada and abroad. The list contains a complete range of security levels and a broad spectrum of product types including secure radios, Internet browsers, VPN devices, PC postage equipment, cryptographic accelerators and others.

Vendors who plan to sell security equipment to the federal government submit their products and systems to the Cryptographic Module Validation Program. The CMVP is a joint program between NIST and its Canadian counterpart, the Communications Security Establishment. Before the launch of the testing program in 1995, there was no generally accepted way to test cryptographic modules. The cryptographic modules may be any combination of hardware, software and firmware.

While the government agencies oversee the program, all of the nuts-and-bolts testing is done by private, accredited laboratories in the United States and Canada. The program tests ensure that a product meets federal standards. Federal agencies are currently required to use FIPS 140-1 when purchasing cryptographic products intended to protect information. Additionally, the standards are used in the private sector as well, particularly in the financial services industry.

Detailed information about the new standard is available at http://www.nist.gov/fips140-2.

Media Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661

 

 

 

Data Storage

Brochure Shows NIST Research, Services Benefit Data Storage Efforts

There’s an unrelenting space crunch in magnetic data storage. By 2006, the storage industry aims to pack 1 terabit (trillion bits) per square inch on state-of-the-art magnetic disk drives—a recording density 40 times greater than today’s top commercial offerings. The technical hurdles to be scaled are formidable.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is helping industry to accomplish its ambitious goals. A new brochure describes key programs and resources that the institute is devoting to the cause. It profiles activities in 13 areas, including imaging and modeling of magnetic properties, nanometer-scale measurement capabilities and spintronics. Contacts are listed for each project or service. Also highlighted are specialized facilities such as NIST’s Center for Neutron Research, an array of microscopes that provide finely detailed views of magnetic materials and an elaborately instrumented magnetic thin-film deposition laboratory.

NIST staff expertise spans all fields relevant to magnetic data storage, including materials science, electrical engineering, physics, mathematics and modeling, tribology, manufacturing engineering, chemistry, metrology and combinatorial methods. By illustrating the diverse range of research and resources NIST offers, the new brochure makes it easier for companies and their organizations working in the rapidly advancing technology area to take full advantage of NIST capabilities.

To obtain a copy of the “Magnetic Data at NIST” brochure, contact the NIST Inquiries Office at (301) 975-NIST (975-6478) or inquiries@nist.gov. Additional information on NIST’s contributions to magnetic data storage may be found at http://www.nist.gov/computers.

Media Contact:
Mark Bello, (301) 975-3776