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The Unsustainability of Moore's Law
Roughly every two years, the density of transistors that can be fit onto a silicon chip doubles.
The gate pitch, or minimum distance between transistors, is generally in the range of 30-40nm, and the 60x60nm footprint is a result of geometric constraints on how densely irregular circuits can be packed, leaving unavoidable empty space. Previous generations of lithography equipment relied on wavelengths of ultraviolet light measured in hundreds of nanometers, which puts limits on just how small of patterns can be created on a chip. A typical medical X-ray tube is orders of magnitude more energy efficient at turning electricity into photons than the method of lasering molten tin droplets that’s currently used to produce EUV light.
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