In this schematic of plasmonic lithography, the plasmonic flying head produces nanoscale patterns onto the spinning disk covered with photo sensitive chemicals. Ultraviolet light is delivered through the flying head onto the plasmonic lenses, which are used as optical styluses in this process. The setup resembles a stylus playing a record on traditional LP turntables.

Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley are reporting a new way of creating computer chips that could revitalise optical lithography, a patterning technique that dominates modern integrated circuits manufacturing.

By combining metal lenses that focus light through the excitation of electrons - or plasmons - on the lens’ surface with a “flying head” that resembles the stylus on the arm of an old-fashioned LP turntable and is similar to those used in hard disk drives, the researchers were able to create line patterns only 80 nanometers wide at speeds up to 12 meters per second, with the potential for higher resolution detail in the near future.

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A flexible bionic lens designed to permanently repair vision in long and short sighted people could be available within five years and cost less than £1,000.

Professor James Wolffsohn, from Aston University, has been working with opthology companies to develop flexible artificial lenses that can replace the lens found in the human eye.

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