According to foreign media reports, the chip becomes smaller and smaller in the development of a smart phone that can be loaded into the pocket, and the running speed is getting faster and faster. In the meantime, miniaturization is the core of computer evolution. Although the energization of the electron is narrowed to the atomic degree, it faces a severe engineering challenge.
IBM has released research reports not long ago, explains how miniaturization can continue to maintain the development of chip manufacturing. This is part of the IBM 3 billion Countries Research Program, and their goals are designed to make chips with carbon nanotube technology. These nanotubes are hollow cylindrical structures, and the tube wall consists of a single layer carbon atom, and is connected in hexagonal lattice. It looks like a very small chicken silk roll, approximately 10,000 times more than human hair.
IBM's Watson Research Center said: "This breakthrough has proved that carbon nanotechnology can be applied, such as capable of making smaller chip assemblies. We think this goal can be achieved within 10 years, more time prediction time Earlier. "
Reduce the volume of the chip, the enhanced chip performance is the key to maintaining the correctness of "Moore Law" in the computer industry for decades. According to Moore's law, new chip manufacturing technology iterate every two years, it has helped send a computer to our desk, pockets and wrists. It helps Google to figure out the meaning of the network and help Facebook identify friends in your photo. But this progress is slower. If it stops, many future revolutionary computer philosophy will no longer have the opportunity to achieve.
Aaron THEAN said, IBM development technology is indeed good news, and they are making good progress in this field. However, if you want to make nanotube technology to practice, you need to do more work.
The famous chip business analyst of Techknowledge Strategies Mike Fibus said that IBM's research is breakthrough. He said: "This is a huge progress, which will make those who say that Moore's law finally failed."
The entire microprocessor industry is trying to find a way to overcome today's dilemma, and IBM pays special attention to carbon nanotube technology. Finally, IBM hosted nanotubes to be used to make chips, and this chip can be applied to many fields, from assembled supercomputers to microcomputers, etc., they can also be placed in clothes and automotive tire pressure gauges.
Today's chip transistors are made of silicon elements mainly dependent on silicon elements that can conduct electrically or non-conductive properties in different environments. Carbon nanotubes have this characteristic of semiconductors and can act as a switch for processing data. IBM's research has identified a better way to better connect these nanotubes to the microprocessor to other parts of the microprocessor to facilitate conductivity when they are in operation. Previously, high resistance prevents current flow, but IBM's way is to connect one end of the nanotubes to metal molybdenum. This connection itself is very small, but it is the key to making miniature chip circuits.
IBM material scholar said this technique can be used to make three generations of chips, which can also be applied to future chip manufacturing techniques. But it provides the minimization ability, sufficient to make the manufacturing chip technology to extend more than 3 or more. Previously, this iteration was very difficult because the electrical resistance became more and greater as the electronic component became smaller.
Siya sees other challenges. Although IBM has found how to reduce resistance, researchers still need to process capacitors that can cause current to slow down. The resistance and capacitance reduce current speed when the calculation task is performed in the circuit switching process.
IBM itself also found other hinders. One of them is that carbon nanotubes are divided into two categories: semiconductors and metals. They are difficult to distinguish, but if used in metal carbon nanotubes, transistors will be destroyed.
Another challenge exists during the manufacturing process. Today's core chip manufacturing techniques are called lithography, so that the specific part of the silicon wafer removes the technology of the circuit. Carbon nanotubes require materials to engrave on chips in extremely accurate ways. IBM materials said: "When making a silicon chip, it is like using marble engraved statues. To make carbon nanotube chips, use marble powder to shape the statue, we need to find a new way."
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