A Soft X-Ray source based on High Harmonic Generation was recently installed at the Optics Research Group as part of the LINX-consortium by partner Active Fiber Systems. The aim of this consortium is to generate new techniques to image extremely small features in 3D, for example on next generation computer chips. The newly installed Soft X-Ray source, at the moment the brightest of its kind, has a key role to achieve these ambitious goals.

The real start of the LINX program was given with the Kick-Off meeting at TU-Delft in November 2018, more than two years after the initial idea of LINX was born. Already a couple of newly hired researchers were present at that first meeting, and the real work could finally start.

The contract negotiations took substantially more time than initially expected, but finally the Consortium Agreement was signed by all parties in August 2018, so that the green light could be switched on to start with hiring of the researchers (PhDs and Post-Docs) for LINX. During the lengthy contract negotiations, one industrial partner, Demcon-Focal, decided to leave the consortium.

After a positive review of the LINX proposal, both from international as well as Dutch reviewers, the program was finally granted by NWO in November 2017. That was the start of the negotiations towards a Consortium Agreement (CA) with all academic and industrial partners of LINX. The CA had to cover, amongst others, the IP arrangements with all industrial partners.

The LINX consortium was being shaped in the summer of 2016, starting from first contacts of TU-Delft with VU-Amsterdam and University of Utrecht. Soon after that, Twente University and TU-Eindhoven joined the consortium too. Consecutive NWO-Perspective Proposals for LINX were submitted for Phase-1 (Sept. 2016), Phase-2 (Dec. 2016) and Phase-3 (June 2017). Initially, 7 industrial partners were willing to support our initiative, but that number was during later contract negotiations reduced to 6, which are ASML, TNO, Coherent, AFS, Malvern/PANalytical and VSL.