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The push for sub-micron line features sprouted several experimental attempts, among them X-Ray, e-beam, optical steppers and ion beam machines. This is one of the few ion beam machines ever produced. It was made by IMS—Ion Microfabrication Systems—one of the few and perhaps only Austrian semiconductor equipment companies, it was a technical success but proved to be a manufacturing dud. Ions could not penetrate the photoresist, creating a solid skin on the upper surface and a plastic goop underneath. Line features evaporated. Many attempts were made to improve the technology, including maskless exposure, but that just spattered the material thrown off. It was a spectacular technology failure.
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