While many of us take the technology behind silicon chips for granted there is a lot more to the technology than meets the eye – quite literally!
US Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have come forward with a revolutionary new way to embed transistors on silicon chips. Those who follow the world of chip technology will be aware of Moore's law which states that the number of transistors that can fit into a chip will double every two years. While historically the theory has not been far wrong, we are now at a stage where carvings within a silicon chip are undetectable by the human eye.
At the moment the smallest feature available on a mass market chip is 45 nanometres, although some 32 nanometre chips have been produced in the research labs. This new technique by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology use specially adapted lasers and allows 25 nanometre features to be carved on a silicon chip, pushing Moore's law literally to the limit.
While this may all be a little too far fetched for many consumers, the world of silicon chips is very active with scientists looking at ways of reducing the size of electronic components on an ongoing basis. |
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