| Techtree News Staff | |
| Jun 21, 2006 | |
  |
|
IBM claims that they have developed transistor that runs about 100 times faster than current chips.
This development could help the company develop ultra-fast computers and wireless networks. Transistors form the foundation of the processors found in everything ranging right from supercomputers to digital music players.
According to IBM they have achieved the record speed by building transistors from silicon laced with exotic chemical element, germanium. It could eventually speed up wireless networks and develop cheaper mobile phones.
In a statement, Bernie Meyerson, head of semiconductor research for IBM, stated that what they have been doing in the last several years is pushing the absolute limits of silicon technology. What they have done in demonstrating this is that they are nowhere near having tapped the limits of silicon performance, and that is very encouraging.
Meyerson further added that the transistor achieved a speed of 500 GHz, which is 100-plus times speedier than the fastest PC chips sold today, and about 250 times faster than the typical mobile telephone chip.
As per the report, the speed was hit only when IBM researchers, working with counterparts from the Georgia Institute of Technology, cooled the transistor to near absolute zero, but Meyerson said the device still ran at 300 GHz at room temperature.
Most improvements in chip speeds over the years have come from shrinking transistor sizes, but IBM’s approach is to fine-tune the silicon on the atomic level, meaning that transistors can be designed from the ground up with very specific applications in mind.
Moreover, Meyerson forecasts that the advances will show up in real products within a couple years, probably in chips to power super-fast wireless networks capable of transmitting a DVD-quality movie in as little as five seconds.