Run faster use less power
Big Blue has developed an exotic material that "self-assembles" chips that can run a third faster and use 15 per cent less power.
The new process allows the wiring on a chip to be insulated with a vacuum which it claims is the "Holy Grail" of insulators. According to Reuters, the technique works by coating a silicon wafer with a layer of a special polymer that when baked.
This naturally forms trillions of uniform tiny holes just 20 nanometers across.The patten is used to create the copper wiring on top of a chip and the insulating gaps that let electricity flow smoothly.
IBM says that the same process is used during the formation of snowflakes, tooth enamel and seashells.
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