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Monday December 11, 12:03 am Eastern Time
Forbes.com
Intel Announces Chip Breakthrough
By David Einstein
If you think today's PCs are powerful, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Intel will announce today
that within a decade it will be making processors capable of operating ten times faster than
today's speediest chips.
Venturing into the realm of nanotechnology, scientists at Santa Clara., Calif.-based Intel
(Nasdaq: INTC - news) have devised a way to build transistors three billionths of an inch (nanometers) long and just three
atoms thick. More than 400 million of these nano-transistors can be crammed onto a single chip capable of running at 10
gigahertz. Today's fastest chips run at just over 1 GHz.
The new transistors, which act like switches controlling the flow of electrons inside the chip, could complete 2 million
calculations in the time it takes a bullet to travel one inch.
Such extraordinary power could let personal computers do chores that today are still the stuff of science fiction, such as
real-time translation of the human voice.
Because they are so small and close together, the transistors also require less than one volt of power, meaning they could help
usher in a generation of PCs much smaller than today's desktops and laptops.
Similar work involving nanotechnology is also being done by Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HWP - news) and IBM (NYSE:
IBM - news), which are devising ways to miniaturize computer memory and storage. Those efforts, combined with the tiny
transistors from Intel, could make it possible to incorporate powerful computers into cellular phones, watches and even
human implants.
Intel's breakthrough means that Moore's Law--under which computing power doubles every 18 months--should continue to
rule for years to come. Until now, conventional thinking suggested that when transistors got too small they would leak
electricity and break down. But Intel scientist Gerald Marcyk says the company has bypassed that problem with its
nanosolution.
``Our research proves that these smaller transistors behave in the same way as today's devices and shows there are no
fundamental barriers to producing these devices in high volumes in the future,'' he says.
``It's one thing to achieve a great technological breakthrough,'' says Sunlin Chou, general manager of Intel's Technology and
Manufacturing Group. ``It's another to have one that is practical and will change everyone's lives. With the 30-nanometer
transistor, we have both.''
Today's announcement is a shot in the arm for Intel, which is starting to feel the pinch from a slowdown in PC sales. Last
Thursday, the giant company warned that fourth-quarter revenue will be flat in the wake of order cancellations by some big
customers.
Intel's stock has lost more than half its value since the start of September, when it hit $75.83. |
