Eli5: Why can lasers with lower wave lengths/bigger energy cut smaller circuits on a CPU than lasers with bigger wave lengths?

Question

I get it that lasers with a lower wave length are stronger, but how do strong lasers help one cut smaller circuit?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Imagine drawing a picture with a very fine point pencil vs a big fat marker. The pencil can draw much thinner lines than the marker.

For more details (not ELI5 but still simplified) consider the equation for the smallest detail (“critical dimension”) that can be drawn. This is some factor (a constant) times (wavelength / aperture). So to draw something smaller, you either decrease the wavelength (numerator) or increase the aperture (denominator). Increased aperture means you “tighten the beam” so you draw a finer point.