Equation 1 · Part 3 · Patterning at the Limit: What Actually Happens When a Chip Is Manufactured

Symbol λ

R = k_1 \frac{\lambda}{\mathrm{NA}},

\lambda

What this part means

the exposure wavelength, $\mathrm{NA}$ is the numerical aperture of the projection optics.

Its job in the formula

λ occurs above the fraction bar. The numerator is divided by the entire denominator below it.

Full expressionSymbol λArticle meaning

Where the article explains it

where $\lambda$ is the exposure wavelength, $\mathrm{NA}$ is the numerical aperture of the projection optics, and $k_1$ is a dimensionless process factor absorbing illumination scheme, mask engineering and resist behaviour.

The passage around this formula

Only one step in the loop carries information, so it deserves the arithmetic. Projection lithography is an imaging problem, and its resolution obeys the Rayleigh relation $R = k_1 \frac{\lambda}{\mathrm{NA}}$ . where $\lambda$ is the exposure wavelength, $\mathrm{NA}$ is the numerical aperture of the projection optics, and $k_1$ is a dimensionless process factor absorbing illumination scheme, mask engineering and resist behaviour. Two-beam interference sets a hard floor: for a periodic line-and-space pattern the…

Read this part in the article →

Learn the underlying idea

A variable is a named place for a value. Its letter is a local label: x can mean position in one formula and a data point in another.

Open the illustrated variables: a letter stands for a value guide →

See this notation across published equations →

Sources cited in the article section

These citations provide research context; check each source for the exact claim it supports.