IBM invented the micro-hole chip-making material

It seems that computer chips will work better if it looks like a Swiss cheese, with a few . holes in the surface of the fabric. At least, this is true for a new chip manufacturing technology from IBM.

IBM recently unveiled a new chip manufacturing method with tiny holes inside, making it faster to process and consume less power. This may be one of the most significant steps in the most advanced chip manufacturing technology in the next few years.

To create these tiny holes, IBM used a plastic-like material to create sieve-like surface structures with many holes. These holes are 20 nanometers wide, (1 nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter).

The chip surface uses new manufacturing technology with surface holes, captured by electron microscopy.Photos of IBM provided to AP.

" To our knowledge, this is the first time humans can use nanoscale self-aligning materials to make devices that machines cannot do themselves. " John Kelly, Vice IBM's development president, said.

Kelly said the molecules in this material are similar to the structure of a balanced 6-sided snowflake.

IBM said the technology could be added to the chip manufacturing line currently being manufactured by the company, which reduces 35% of power consumption when the chip operates.

IBM hopes the technology will start production in early 2009, first on IBM's server chips, and then chip production for other companies, which may include microchips. Processed in Sony's PlayStation 3.

" It is a huge breakthrough ," said Richard Doherty, research director at Envisioneering Group. " It will be chips that are faster and more fuel efficient than any product in the last few years ."

The gaps in the new material structure will reduce the temperature quickly, solving the problem that is hurting the semiconductor industry: When the transistor density on the chip surface increases with shrinking size, this will help a chip increase processing speed at higher speeds, but will also generate more heat and consume more power.

Doherty also said that the largest commercial-scale chip-making technology, with electronic circuits of 65 nanometers in precision, now consumes nearly half of the power the chips consume. The leakage of electricity and heat generation not only reduces durability but also significantly slows down the speed of the processor.

This technology was invented by the Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif., And the TJ Watson Research Center in Yorktown, NY. It was accepted by IBM University and IBM Semiconductor Research and Development Center in East Fishkill, NY, for commercial use.

Ph.Thuy