Intel Makes Major Chip Breakthrough

[MaxFly]

Intel (Nasdaq: INTC - news) is creating a new transistor technology that promises to boost processing speed while requiring significantly less power. The technology could form the basis of the company's chips a decade down the road.

Transistors, the primary components of semiconductors, control the flow of electrical current inside a chip. The prototype transistor, created by researchers at Intel and UK-based QinetiQ, is made with indium antimonide (chemical symbol: InSb). This material is seen as a complement to silicon and is expected to help extend Moore's Law beyond 2015.

Moore's Law is the observation made in 1965 by Intel cofounder Gordon Moore that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits will double roughly ever year, meaning that chips will continue to get smaller and more powerful.

While many industry observers have suggested that we are nearing the limits of chip miniaturization, breakthroughs like this could, at least in theory, help continue to increase processing power long into the future.

Best of Both Worlds

The basic concept is that adding more transistors to a piece of silicon increases the speed and power of the integrated circuit.

Intel said the new transistor can increase processing speed by 50 percent while using one-tenth the power needed by transistors in today's chips. Considerably less energy used and less heat generated could boost battery life for mobile devices and increase opportunities for building both smaller and more powerful products.

"This is a significant breakthrough," said Intel spokesperson John Casey. "Normally there is a tradeoff between processing speed and power consumption, but this provides the best of both worlds. We expect the new material will enhance the future of silicon-based semiconductors."

Issues To Address

InSb is in a class of materials called III-V compound semiconductors, Casey explained, which are used in a variety of devices such as radio-frequency amplifiers, microwave hardware, and semiconductor lasers.

The prototype transistors are the smallest ever invented, able to operate at a reduced voltage, about 0.5 volts, or roughly half of that for transistors in today's chips, enabling chips with far less power consumption.

"It's not just about the number of transistors in a processor, it's about density. Now we can significantly increase that density and increase electron mobility," Casey said.

Before the new transistors find their way into processors, though, researchers need to address issues related to combining silicon and InSb, which have distinct atomic structures and thus are not easily compatible, said Casey.

The first commercial products based on this technology are not expected until at least 2015, he added.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20051209/bs_nf/40040

[Chief]

interesting....

[Hero1]

They are always gonna find someting every 1-2 years..how else would they make there money ? :bat: