Introduction to special issue of Applied Optics on soft-x-ray projection lithography.

This special issue contains a collection of papers describing results that were presented at the Second Topical Meeting on Soft-X-Ray Projection Lithography sponsored by the Optical Society of America and held 6-8 April 1992 in Monterey, California, along with several additional papers submitted after that meeting. These papers are being published in this collection to make them readily available to a larger audience than would normally occur with a proceedings and also to take advantage of the critical review process.