Micro-Electronic Champ

A 1957 classic sitting in a Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) clean room isn't a Chevy, but a Veeco vacuum evaporator.

Standing at more than six feet tall and five feet wide, the evaporator is still in use today and helps out with microfabricating tiny electronic circuits.

"It’s a very rugged machine and it’s gotten better with age," said Mike Harris, an GTRI engineer in the machine's laboratory. Harris said he first used the aging evaporator in 1972 as a student.

The system works by evaporating metals or other materials in extreme vacuum, then travel to finely etched semiconductors. Once they meet the silicon-laden pattern, the metal condenses to create a detailed circuit.

Because the 1957 system still runs well, Harris sees no reason to buy a new one.

"New systems like this probably cost between $700,000 and $1 million," he said. "And the new systems are designed primarily for throughput and that’s not necessarily best for a research environment."

—LiveScience Staff 

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Credit: Georgia Tech Research Institute