*NEWS*IBM SQUEEZES MORE INTO MICROCHIPS

[Anonymous]

IBM squeezes more into microchips
29.9 nanometre-wide lines etched on a circuit compared to 90 nanometre-wide lines (IBM)
The method allows more circuits to be “printed” on a china
Researchers at IBM have discovered a way of getting more out of the current method used to make computer chips.
They
say they have been able to etch circuits on silicon wafers that are a
third of the width of those produced using existing technology.
The technique could lead to smaller and higher capacity chips, and delay a switch to costlier and unproven chip-making methods.
Current technology is reaching its physical limits as chips become tinier.
‘Breathing room’
The
semiconductor industry has been looking for ways of etching more
circuits on silicon wafers to meet the demand for faster and ever more
powerful chips.
Handheld devices have been getting more and more powerful
IBM
said the new production technique could extend “Moore’s Law”, a guiding
principle of the technology sector for the last 40 years.
Intel
founder Gordon Moore predicted in the late 1960s that the number of
transistors on a chip, and therefore its processing power, would double
every 18 months.
The methods used by the scientists at IBM’s Almaden
Research Center in San Jose, California, uses a method called
deep-ultraviolet optical lithography.
This is essentially the method
used to etch circuits on chips. The IBM team said they were able to
“print” circuits that are 29.9 nanometres wide.
This is about
one-third of the width of the smallest computer circuits in mass
production today. One nanometre is a billionth of a metre.
“Our goal
is to push optical lithography as far as we can so the industry does
not have to move to any expensive alternatives until absolutely
necessary,” said Dr Robert D Allen, manager of lithography materials at
IBM’s Almaden Research Center.
“This result is the strongest
evidence to date that the industry may have at least seven years of
breathing room before any radical changes in chip-making techniques
would be needed.”
IBM said the method could help fuel the push towards more powerful and compact handheld devices. 

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February 23, 2006 at 9:58 AM