nukm69 Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6085568.html IBM and Georgia Tech have coaxed a chip to run at 500GHz, a record for a silicon-based device, by dropping the temperature to minus 451 degrees Fahrenheit. The experiment is part of a project to explore the ultimate speed limits of silicon-germanium (SiGe) chips. SiGe chips are similar to standard silicon chips, but they also contain germanium for better performance and lower power consumption. Adding germanium, however, increases the price of producing wafers and chips that come out of the wafers, so SiGe chips are typically only found in a few select markets. IBM has sold hundreds of millions of SiGe chips since it began selling them in 1998, but the cell phone industry gobbles up billions of plain silicon chips annually. (Germanium is sprinkled into standard silicon chips: Intel adds minute amounts of the element to create strained silicon in its processors). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.Ob. Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Hmmm, sounds like fusion power.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.Ob. Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Chip breaks speed record in deep freeze "Ultimately, high-performance SiGe chips could be used in defense systems, space exploration vehicles and remote sensing. Conceivably, you could also build a computer for Ted Williams and other cryogenically frozen celebrities." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.