Topic: The world's fastest silicon-based microchip

[Clive]

The world's fastest silicon-based microchip has been demonstrated by scientists in the US.

The prototype operates at speeds up to 500 gigahertz (GHz), more than 100 times faster than desktop PC chips. To break the world record, the researchers from IBM and the Georgia Institute of Technology had to super-cool the chip with liquid helium.

The team believe the device could eventually speed up wireless networks and develop cheaper mobile phones. "Faster and faster chips open up new applcations and reduce costs for exisitng products," said Professor David Ahlgren of IBM.

At the moment, most microchips are made from silicon. But in recent years, there has been a realisation that silicon cannot match other materials in terms of processing speed.

For applications that require huge amounts of calculations every second, like collision warning systems in cars and trucks, companies use exotic materials to produce the necessary power. Materials like gallium arsenide are commonly used, but are expensive and difficult to fabricate.

However, the chip industry would like to continue to use proven silicon manufacturing technology that is reliable and cheap. The new experiments were part of a project to explore the speed limits of devices made of silicon and germanium.

[sam]

IBM and the Georgia Institute of Technology had to super-cool the chip with liquid helium.

umm so that water cooling system isn't going to cut it...

[Clive]

Project could make computers 500 times faster
June 22, 2006

The University of Bath is to lead a three-year physics project that could make computers 500 times faster.

The research project, led by Dr. Alain Nogaret of the University of Bath's Department of Physics, involves four universities in the UK and a university and research centre in Belgium and France, and will look at cutting out the need for wiring to carry electric currents in silicon chips.

Tony Trueman, from the University of Bath, told Web User, that the speed of your computer is determined by how small its silicon chips are, smaller chips can store more information making your PC more powerful.

Trueman said: ?Wiring has to be of a certain size, if you keep making the chip smaller and keep the same size wiring then there's really a limit to how small you can make the chip.?

He said wireless technology (WiFi) has already been developed for internet systems and mobile phones, but the existing technology is too big to put into chips. Computers would end up being five times the size, so the technology needs to be created on a smaller scale.

The possibility of WiFi for computer chips wouldn't be realized until at least five to ten years after the completion of the research project. If the research is successful, computers could be made from 200 to 500 times quicker and still be the same size.

Yesterday, we reported that IBM claims it has developed the world's fastest silicon-based chip, capable of running around 100 times faster than chips in PCs today.

http://www.bath.ac.uk

[Reno]

They did say it ran 350ghz at room temperatures. I could live with that slow speed if i couldn't maintain that 400F below.

[sam]

yep! :-) but I bet it is unstable