IBM's 'Strained Silicon' Boosts Chip Speed

With the help of Big Blue, consumers will begin to see more efficient micro-electronics by 2003 that provide more power for CPU hungry applications. The current generation of semiconductor technology has received a considerable boost in performance thanks to breakthrough from IBM. A newly engineered material named "Strained Silicon" can increase chip speeds up to 35 percent, as well as reduce power consumption.

This week's announcement marks IBM's fifth major breakthrough in semiconductor technology in the past four years. Strained Silicon breathes more life into the material, which is quickly nearing its physicals limits. According to IBM, "The new technology takes advantage of the natural tendency for atoms inside compounds to align with one another. When silicon is deposited on top of a substrate with atoms spaced farther apart, the atoms in silicon stretch to line up with the atoms beneath, stretching -- or 'straining' -- the silicon." The material speeds up the flow of electrons through silicon by up to 70 percent. The result is faster performance without the need to miniaturize transistors.

Bijan Davari, vice president of semiconductor development at IBM Microelectronics stated, "Strained silicon, combined with our prior advances in copper, silicon-on-insulator, silicon germanium and low-K materials, will allow us to maintain our one-to-two year lead in semiconductor technologies over the rest of the industry." IBM contends that as long as their work in the laboratory can be quickly applied to consumer products, competitors will struggle to offset the inevitability of Moore's Law obsolescence.

Strained silicon images can be found on research.ibm.com.

Further information on IBM's related semiconductor breakthroughs can be found on chips.ibm.com.