Operating systems age control

John Larkin doesn't see much, and nothing that he doesn't want to see.

Europe is doing fine on inventing things and building things. They are bit further along the demographic transition than the US, which has a remarkably primitive social and political system. It wasn't all that advanced when they got it under their own control in 1776 and hasn't moved forward all that fast since them. Advanced industrial countries have stable populations that they can feed properly and educate well. Donald Trump hasn't got any interesting in having a educated electorate.

For the US idea of "world class". The US is great at self-congratulation.

TI is pretty much everywhere. Analog Devices managed to take over Linear Technology, saving them from TI. Nvidia don't make their chips, but buy them from fabs - presumably mostly in Taiwan. Apple don't make their own chips either.

It keeps the US Defense Department happy. And the US congress which likes to see US taxpayer money spent with "US" companies.

Seems unlikely. There's not a large market for repurposed missile guidance electronics.

Living standard low, IQ low, homelessness high, gun violence high, largest deficit in the known Universe, an unreliable trade partner, first a demented leader (ByeThen) and now a nut-case 'wrestler' as king. Products few and s*it and low quality, genocide committing religious fanatic sect in power, Stealing and robbing all over the world, war mongering CIA clowns deployed everywhere to make wars far from its bed to be able to sell weapons, collapsing infrastructure... the list is endless. not that empire though!

Thank ASML

Apple is just a ripoff high prices thing, Linux is better and cheaper and simpler for people with a normal IQ.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating! US stuff very likely could not even get out of the silos.

And even if they did they could not remember the launch code was 00000000

Hey, save for your little boats so you can flee across the oceans and maybe get political asylum in China or Europe

ASML bought Cymer to acquire the tin-droplet EUV technology.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

It's a pretty horrible way of making hard UV, but the nut-cases at Cymer had got it to work. There's something to be said for having a culture that supports of a lot high risk venture capital investment, but when 19 out of twenty go bust, you do have to wonder if there might not be a better way to nurse developing technologies.

Phil and I made some fundamental discoveries about the tin droplet optics, and I designed the first-generation droplet detectors, timing electronics, and energy sensors.

The Cymer people were wicked smart but hardly nut cases. They changed the world.

Cymer already had a thriving DUV lithography laser business, which they still manufacture in San Diego, as a division of ASML.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

Phil's third edition, which I got to see when he asked for volunteer proof-readers, had some interesting stuff on the tin droplet detector hardware - very much in line with Phil's expertise. He didn't write about your contributions. "Fundamental discoveries" would have been impressive if you'd made any. Phil's emphasis was more on getting the house-keeping right. Tin droplets don't move all that fast so the timing detectors wouldn't have been all that exciting.

Getting hard UV out of droplets of molten tin is bonkers. They would have had to be wickedly smart to get it to work, but more virtuous cleverness might have found a less hairy solution

Deep UV lasers are a good deal less cranky than droplets of molten tin.

The IEEE passes out plaques like that from time to time. My late wife's study still has a bunch on the wall, and her principle was that her visitors might report this back to the donors, and make them happy.

The archivists have told me not to dump her stuff, though they seem strangely reluctant to take it away to a proper archive. Being married to an eminent academic can make life interesting.

Envision a shiny liquid sphere being slapped around and then tossed in the air in the middle of a hurricane. Shine a spotlight on it and snoop it with a photodiode.

Fun.

Such as?

I know people who are trying to build a gigantic synchrotron with multiple FEL wigglers.

I think there could be an array of VCSEL lasers driving some nonlinear optical thing that triples the optical frequency. Get below 100 nm maybe, but cheap.

One high-NA ASML system now costs about half a billion dollars. A wafer fab costs something like $30 billion.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

It's a rather small shiny liquid sphere and a hurricane is a rather specific large scale atmospheric disturbance. Spotlights are steered by human operators. Your envisaging skills suck.

If I had one in mind I'd try to sell it to a venture capitalist rather than parade it here.

There are plenty of synchrotron pius wiggler set-ups around. When my wife made FRS back in 2015 several of the new fellows of the UK Royal Society had exploited hard X-rays from such a set up to image fossils embedded in lumps of rock.

Finding stuff that is transparent below 100nm does seem to be difficult.

Doesn't surprise me. Back when I knew the number - back around 1990 - it was around half a billion dollars. The Cambridge Instruments electron beam microfabricator that it might then have used for mask-making cost about a million dollars.

We sold one to the AWA semiconductor fab in Australia, and the reps came back and told me that my younger brother had negotiated the contract between AWA and Lendlease (where Jim worked at the time) to build building that house the entire fab.

What's that drawing in the picture?

That's the 2-stage MOPA eximer laser that we did the timing unit for. The bottom tube is the laser, the master oscillator, and the upper is the power amplifier. The combination allows high-quality light to be generated at low power, and then amplified.

It runs at 193 nm, which is apparently the shortest wavelength that nature allows a gas laser to do.

Ask gogle AI about xla100 lithography

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

OK, got uit

I did (this was the reply for the others):

Overview of XLA 100 Lithography XLA 100 is a specific type of ArF (Argon Fluoride) dry lithography light source utilized in semiconductor manufacturing. It is designed to pattern critical layers on silicon wafers with high precision and reliability.

Key Features High Precision: The XLA 100 enables the production of smaller and more complex chip designs by accurately defining features on the wafer. Reliability: This light source is known for its consistent performance, which is essential in high-volume manufacturing environments. Extended Module Lifetimes: The technology behind the XLA 100 contributes to longer operational lifetimes, reducing the need for frequent replacements. Applications: XLA 100 is primarily used in the following areas: Chip Design: It plays a crucial role in the fabrication of advanced semiconductor devices, allowing for the creation of intricate patterns necessary for modern electronics. Critical Layer Patterning: The light source is specifically effective in patterning mid-critical layers, which are essential for the functionality of integrated circuits. In summary, the XLA 100 is a vital component in the semiconductor manufacturing process, enabling the production of high-performance chips with intricate designs.

Cool to have contributed to something with such a huge impact, nice award, congratulations!

I was lucky to get involved with a bunch of optics geniuses who weren't very good with electronics. They had designed some really ghastly hairball circuits.

It's fun when you can dabble in some important process and help with the electronics.

I go to monthly startup pitch meetings (free food and beer!) and see that they all need electronics but are rarely any good at it. Some good ideas fail because of that.

There is something weird about designing electronics. Just being a genius in physics or something doesn't guarantee the required feral instincts.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

It must be a real drag to be so literal.

And it absolutely squashes creativity. And humor.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

It's a real drag putting up with people whose only example of fast moving air is a hurricane.

If you don't get the joke, you can miss the humour. And I've got my name on more patents than you have, so you may have the same problem with creativity.

I've been throgh about 6 hurricanes and only one tornado.

I used to enjoy hurricanes. We got off school for a few days or sometimes weeks.

How much have you made from the patents?

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

You enjoyed having your neighbourhood wrecked?

Absolutely nothing. I did get a US dollar from Cambridge Instruments for US version of the rotating blanking plate patent - it's a US legal requirement - but they only had one US dollar bill that they kept on the premises to satisfy the rule, and I gave it back after I got it.

I've known people who have done better, but it's rare.

I probably got paid more because I did have the occasional creative insight, most of which didn't get patented, but that kind of cause and effect are pretty loosely related.

A wee whizz into the wind with a stream of photons?

Danke,