Intel to announce new chip technology-WSJ
NEW YORK, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Intel Corp <INTC.O>. plans to
unveil new technology for making computer chips on Tuesday, the
Wall Street Journal reported.
The move is part of the company's previously announced
$12.5 billion investment over two years on manufacturing
technology, and the company expects the process to yield the
world's smallest transistors in large-scale production.
In its announcement, Intel was expected to describe some
key elements of its 90-nanometer production process, a
proprietary recipe that includes the materials, equipment and
sequence of manufacturing steps needed to create chips of the
new microscopic dimensions, the Journal said.
The company says its new process can actually create
transistors whose key features are just 50 nanometers, or
1/2,000th of the width of a human hair.
A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, and measures across
a line of circuitry. Smaller circuitry on chips boosts their
performance and reduces production costs.
Intel will also announce plans to use a technology that
effectively stretches the atoms apart in a silicon wafer to
allow electrical current to flow faster, boosting computing
performance, the paper reported.
International Business Machines Corp is credited with being
the first company to adopt this "strained silicon" technique,
but Intel expects to be the first to use it in massive
production volumes.
Besides shrinking the circuitry on their chips, the company
is also seeking to combine multiple features such as memory and
wireless networking on the same chip with microprocessors,
making Intel a more credible contender in communications and
other markets beyond personal computers.
The company also is moving, at two factories in Oregon and
New Mexico, to 12-inch silicon wafers, up from the current
industry standard of eight inches, which Intel expects to
reduce production costs by at least 30 percent per chip.
((Nick Olivari, New York newsdesk, 646-223-6000))
REUTERS
*** end of story *** |
