IBM stretches out atoms to make ICs 35% faster in 'strained silicon'
New technology could be used in chip products as early as 2003
Semiconductor Business News
(06/08/01 08:50 a.m. EST)
ARMONK, N.Y.--IBM Corp. today disclosed a breakthrough method to alter silicon by stretching out atoms to boost the speed of semiconductors by up to 35% without having to shrink the size of transistors.
IBM researchers claim the technology--called "strained silicon"--will rewrite Moore's Law in chip manufacturing by enabling higher performance in integrated circuits without having to shrink devices beyond current limits. The strained silicon technology could find its way into IBM chip products by 2003, according to the company.
The strained silicon technology leverages off a natural tendency for atoms inside compounds to align with one another, according to IBM. When silicon is deposited on top of a substrate with atoms spaced farther apart, the atoms in silicon also stretch to line up with the atoms beneath. In the "strained" silicon, electrons have less resistance and flow up to 70% faster, which make it possible to produce ICs that are 35% faster, said IBM.
IBM researchers will present two technical papers on strained silicon techniques during the Symposium on VLSI Technology in Kyoto, Japan, on Wednesday (June 13).
"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," stated Bijan Davari, vice president of semiconductor development at IBM Microelectronics. |
