Weekly Dose of Optimism #168
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Extreme ultraviolet lithography
13 min read
The article discusses Substrate's X-ray lithography as a competitor to ASML's EUV technology. Understanding EUV lithography's complexity, history, and why it took decades to develop provides crucial context for appreciating both the incumbent technology and why a challenger approach is significant.
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Enhanced geothermal system
10 min read
Mazama Energy's superhot EGS breakthrough is a major focus of the article. Understanding how enhanced geothermal systems work—injecting water into hot rock to create artificial reservoirs—explains why temperature matters so much and what makes Mazama's 629°F achievement technically significant.
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Radioisotope thermoelectric generator
15 min read
Mersenne's 'ultra compact power box that can generate energy for years without refueling' for space applications echoes RTG technology used in spacecraft like Voyager and Mars rovers. Understanding RTGs provides context for what long-duration portable power has historically looked like and why Mersenne's approach may differ.
Hi friends 👋,
Happy Friday and Happy Halloween! There’s going to be a lot of scary stuff happening on the streets tonight, but here in the Weekly Dose, it’s all treats.
We’ve got new American chip technology, new power generation, a little biodefense, a $20k robot you can actually buy right now, and a whole lot of bonus content.
Looks like the good guys decided to dress up as incredibly productive for Halloween.
Let’s get to it.
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(1) Substrate Unstealths Next-Generation Foundry to Compete with ASML & TSMC
From Semianalysis
Substrate is a recently out-of-stealth Bay Area startup inventing “technology to power next-generation foundries” with the mission to substantially reduce the cost of advanced logic wafers. The first major step towards this mission is a new X-ray lithography (XRL) tool that the company has invented.
Substrate, a startup using x-ray lithography to build a new semiconductor foundry in America, came out of stealth on Wednesday with $100 million from Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Long Journey Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, In-Q-Tel, and Allen & Co, and a launch fit for a Lulu & Gaby client. There was a Semianalysis analysis, a Ben Thompson interview, a TBPN appearance, a Cyan tattoo, and of course, a sick video.
This is one of the more ambitious startups to come out in a while. Its plan is to take on two of the giants in the chip supply chain, ASML and TSMC, which have a combined market cap north of $1.7 trillion. ASML’s EUV lithography machine is perhaps the most impressive in the world; there’s some stat like its mirrors are so smooth that if they were blown up to the size of Mars, the biggest imperfection would be a
...This excerpt is provided for preview purposes. Full article content is available on the original publication.