IBM's New SiLK Chips Run Up To 30 Percent Faster

After several years of intensive research, IBM [NYSE:IBM]
has developed an advanced insulation system for the tiny processors
that make up a full-blown microprocessor. The firm said that the new
technology will allow its chips to run up to 30 percent faster,
without increasing their operating temperature.

While it's always been possible to "overclock" PC chips - that is,
run them at faster speeds than they are rated for - the downside is
that their operating temperature quickly rises and, if unchecked, can
dramatically reduce their operating lives.

Using a new insulation technology known as low-k dielectric, Big Blue
said that its chipsets can run at faster speeds without the
consequential rise in temperature and crosstalk between the
processors.

IBM said that by using the new manufacturing process, chips will
function with wires as close as 0.13 microns, compared with 0.25
microns for the majority of chips now produced.

But, in order to achieve the 0.13-micron level, a new insulation
process had to be developed because the silicon dioxide insulation
material which has been used in the industry for about 30 years
doesn't work under such conditions.

IBM said that the first chips built with the new process are expected
to be available next year.

John Kelly, IBM Microelectronics' general manager, said that today,
designers work to improve chips by adding more circuits and packing
them closer together on a single piece of silicon. Limits are reached
as those closely-packed circuits start to generate
interference - just as crosstalk can occur on telephone lines.

IBM has tapped the Dow Chemical Company for the SiLK technology in
its new chips. In addition, the firm is using mainstream "spin-on"
semiconductor manufacturing equipment to apply the material.

The use of both materials and tooling that are generally available,
the firm said, helps make this the first technically and economically
viable low-k process for copper chip fabrication.

IBM's Web site is located at http://www.ibm.com.

Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com.