Japan Developing Diamond-based Semiconductors

pentium iii by circletimessquare · 2002-12-27 05:33 · Score: 3, Funny

pentium iii=mitsubishi?

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intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it

Re:pentium iii by checkitout · 2002-12-27 07:52 · Score: 3, Informative

pentium iii=mitsubishi?

For those who don't get it... mitsubishi means three diamonds in japanese.

engagement present... by jkcity · 2002-12-27 05:33 · Score: 3, Funny

I heard in asia that people give mobile phones with diamonds in them as engagement rpesents, so maybe they are taking a stab at the engagement market :)>

Computer Reclycing by theBunkinator · 2002-12-27 05:34 · Score: 2

Computer recycling may have a chance after all ... how many circuits do you have to kill for an engagement ring?

Re:Computer Reclycing by airiano · 2002-12-27 10:50 · Score: 1

Nothing says I love you like diamond based electronics.

Hmm... by Rayonic · 2002-12-27 05:35 · Score: 4, Funny

"Pentiums are a girl's best friend"?

Okay, that's not funny. Taking off Score +1 Bonus.

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[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation

Great. by Anonymous Coward · 2002-12-27 05:36 · Score: 1, Interesting

Diamond based semiconductors? Joy, we're returning to the days of the overly expensive CPU...

Diamonds... hmmm... by Mr+Teddy+Bear · 2002-12-27 05:36 · Score: 1

Trying to appeal to the female side of the species I see. Diamonds, afterall, are a girl's best friend. :-) How long before they start making chips out of dogs?
hehehehe

The girlfriend should be happy about this... by PhotonSphere · 2002-12-27 05:36 · Score: 5, Funny

She's been pushing for a diamond for a little while now - I wonder if she'll be upset if she gets it in chip form rather than the traditional ring?

Re:The girlfriend should be happy about this... by drinkypoo · 2002-12-27 14:38 · Score: 2

If you put it in the ring and packaged it correctly, maybe you could use it to hold some data or open a sekrit door (ala an iButton on a signet ring mount.)

--
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Re:The girlfriend should be happy about this... by G-funk · 2002-12-27 14:51 · Score: 2

No, I believe the wedding ring is the one that closes various entrances, er... doors.

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Send lawyers, guns, and money!

Breakthrough by Mr2cents · 2002-12-27 05:37 · Score: 2, Funny

This is a breakthrough in wearable computers!

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"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey

Heh by ramirez · 2002-12-27 05:37 · Score: 2, Funny

I would say "yes," but why does the ring say "Intel Inside?"

if this comes through by TerryAtWork · 2002-12-27 05:37 · Score: 2

Moore's Law's funeral will have to be postponed for a little while longer yet again.

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It's Christmas everyday with BitTorrent.

Re:if this comes through by TerryAtWork · 2002-12-27 06:19 · Score: 2

Well, you never know when a breakthrough will come in laying down carbon atoms.

Remember, all we need here is a flat surface not a gemstone.

--
It's Christmas everyday with BitTorrent.
Re:if this comes through by theCat · 2002-12-27 07:16 · Score: 3, Insightful

hmmmm...maybe. We still don't know what the raw performance of these dia-chips will be. No doubt you are thinking "oh, 1000 degC, that is great for overclocking." But do you really want the equivalent of a blast furnace on your desktop? And, what kind of logic board and surface traces will be able to manage that kind of heat? The answer is, none at all.

These are very special duty devices. They will end up in the exhaust manifold of your car, not the logic board of your PC. They will be built and deployed to resist failure under heat, and might not run even as fast as what you can buy today; clock speed will probably not even make it into the requirements document.

So this is no answer to Moore's Law, more like Murphy's Law; trying to get something that is far less likely to go wrong in places where traditional chips go wrong all the time. Thus we can extend the technology we know well (digital computing) into new places (harsh environments.) It will be interesting to see what they do with that...launch a compact space probe into the corona of the sun? Drop one into an erupting volcano to float around and send data? Lots of stuff comes to mind.

But not overclocking.

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=^..^= all your rodent are belong to us

Disadvantages by schmink182 · 2002-12-27 05:38 · Score: 2, Funny

The main disadvantages include the fact that diamonds are terribly expensive :)

Re:Disadvantages by Anonymous Coward · 2002-12-27 05:47 · Score: 1, Interesting

I saw a show on PBS about diamonds one time. It turns out that they are relatively inexpensive, but the major diamond producers will deliberately limit quantity produced to keep the price up. Also, what kind of diamonds are they using. Industrial diamonds are relatively cheep, as any one who has a nice set of diamond files will tell you.
Re:Disadvantages by Apreche · 2002-12-27 05:48 · Score: 4, Informative

Actually diamonds are neither rare nor intrinsically valuable. The only reason that they cost so much at the jewelry store is because of the monopoly of debeers. They pretty much control all the diamonds in the world. if they wanted they could manufacture diamonds out of coal instead of mining them. It is not a lack of supply that makes them expensive but the fact that one company controls all the supply.

Diamonds are expensive for the same reason that Win2k costs $200 per seat. Actually, I prefer emeralds myself.

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The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
Re:Disadvantages by Fulcrum+of+Evil · 2002-12-27 06:21 · Score: 4, Informative

if they wanted they could manufacture diamonds out of coal instead of mining them

Not just yet. Other companies have manufactured diamonds, but they get cloudy after a few years. When this gets solved, you'll hear about it.

--
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
Re:Disadvantages by kalidasa · 2002-12-27 06:24 · Score: 2

Diamonds are expensive for the same reason that Win2k costs $200 per seat

Uh, no. Artificial diamonds look wrong. And natural diamonds cannot be compared with a human product like Win2K.
Re:Disadvantages by esonik · 2002-12-27 06:29 · Score: 3, Informative

These chips will not be based on cut diamond wafers in the way today chips are based on cut silicon wafers because it's pretty much impossible to cut diamond. Rather they would be based on evaporated diamond films (like the SOI - Silicon On Insulator - technique).
The fact that diamond is more suitable at higher temperatures is due to it's large band-gap: 5.5 eV (Si has 1.1 eV). So even at high temperature diamond is an (very good) isolator (very pure Si is also an good isolator at room temperature but it gets a lot more conductive at higher temperatures due to its small band gap). This large band-gap is also the reason why diamond would be a candidate for UV LEDs or lasers (UV starts at about 3eV). OTOH, Silicon with 1.1eV is in the infrared. BTW, the 235nm radiation they mention in the article corresponds to ~5.2 eV.
Re:Disadvantages by 1u3hr · 2002-12-27 07:24 · Score: 2

Uh, no. Artificial diamonds look wrong.
De Beers is planning to (or may already) etch a tiny hallmark on their diamonds because some artificial ones are now indistinguishable. (Saw this on a documentary a few months ago, so I think trustworthy.) Anyway, to a layman zircon is indistinguishable, so "look wrong" is somewhat an exaggeration, or falling for De Beers' mystique.
Re:Disadvantages by kalidasa · 2002-12-27 07:30 · Score: 2

Dummy, the reason why he is saying that diamonds are expensive is because they are being sold by a price fixing monopoly and they can get away with it. But products, in there native state (unfinished for diamonds, bits on media for windows), are essentially worthless.

His argument was that the ONLY reason that the price is high is because of the monopoly, and made a comparison to Windows 2000. This would only be a valid analogy if gemstone-quality cut diamonds could be created ex nihilo and replicated at zero cost, which Windows 2000 can be. But gemstone-quality cut diamonds cannot be created ex nihilo, they can only be created by cutting natural diamonds via a laborious process that is different for each natural diamond [i.e., you cannot just run a loop of disk copies to make millions of identical gemstone-quality cut diamonds like you can to create millions of identical desktop-quality {RIGHT ....} Win2K CDs]. And if natural diamonds are so bloody common - why does De Beers have a monopoly on them? If they were so common, they could be dug out of the ground almost anywhere; and yet De Beers doesn't have a monopoly on real estate.

In other words, the form of monopoly here is hydraulic despotism: De Beers has complete control over a limited resource. The form of monopoly MS has is quite different. Therefore, the poster's argument proceeds via false analogy, and is impeached thereby. Quod erat demonstrandum.

Dummy my ass.
Re:Disadvantages by gmahan · 2002-12-27 07:39 · Score: 2, Informative

"Until the late nineteenth century, diamonds were found only in a few riverbeds in India and in the jungles of Brazil, and the entire world production of gem diamonds amounted to a few pounds a year. In 1870, however, huge diamond mines were discovered near the Orange River, in South Africa, where diamonds were soon being scooped out by the ton. Suddenly, the market was deluged with diamonds. The British financiers who had organized the South African mines quickly realized that their investment was endangered; diamonds had little intrinsic value -- and their price depended almost entirely on their scarcity. The financiers feared that when new mines were developed in South Africa, diamonds would become at best only semiprecious gems."

Full article at The Atlantic

Diamonds are no longer rare, and are only worth anything for the same reason cabbage patch dolls once were: artificial scarcity.
Re:Disadvantages by MojoRilla · 2002-12-27 08:10 · Score: 3, Informative

Artificial diamonds most certaintly do not "look wrong".

According to the NOVA program "Diamond Deception" originally broadcast on 2/01/2000, "These synthetic diamonds are such good copies of the real thing that they not only have the identical atomic structure but can even replicate their flaws."
Re:Disadvantages by MrLint · 2002-12-27 08:21 · Score: 1

Actually diamonds are neither rare nor intrinsically valuable

well only partially true, Industriral dimonds are produced by the tons, gem quality diamons are 'rarer'. By rarer i mean that the diamond cartels control supply as to keep prices high. However gem quality stores are still less abundant than lower grades of diamonds. (this is all laid out on that show about diamonds on the discovery channel).

Now on the other side, just like in semiconductor production purity, or should I say controlled imputiry is the key. Diamonds are tradionally considered electical insulators, but as technology has marched on more things are semiconductors than were ever initally thought (ceramics and such). Controlling the doping agent in the semiconductor becomes the hard part. I cannot say if they are going to 'purify' high grade industiral diamonds or make these things out of an artificial process. As i understand a breakthru has recently been made in diamond manufacture. Which is about all i know about it.

Diamonds are actually a reasonably good conductor of heat, this may also make it a good canidate for semiconductor use. (speculaton from here on) The electrons in the diamond crystal structure is very tight (which is why its vary hard), with the proper doping this could even yield superconducting semiconductors ;)
Re:Disadvantages by ivan256 · 2002-12-27 08:47 · Score: 4, Interesting

Keep in mind that this article was written in 1982. It talks about prices dropping from $60,000 per carat to $30,000 a carat. The colapse it predicts happened in the early '90s, and prices of "perfect" diamonds are now quoted around $5,000 per carat, and can be had for slightly over $1,500 per carat without much trouble. The article also talks about resale values of diamonds being 40% of their retail value. Today, diamonds 1 carat and smaller are essentially worthless. Large retail jewlery chains are still maintaining a significant markup, but that is steadily decreasing now that the public has greater access to wholesale diamonds.

If she has to have a diamond (even after reading that article), do a little research and buy a loose stone from a wholesale vendor. It's not hard to find one, and you can get a local jewler to make you a very nice setting for $100-300. For two months salary these days, she can have a ring that will give her a workout. When I purchased my fiancee's ring (a 2.72 carat saphire with two .25 carat diamonds in a custom setting she designed. $900) I saw another guy buy a 2.9 carat diamond engagement ring for $3500. It wasn't flawless, but it was an excelent stone, and impractically large.
Re:Disadvantages by ninewands · 2002-12-27 10:01 · Score: 2

Quoth the poster:

And if natural diamonds are so bloody common - why does De Beers have a monopoly on them? If they were so common, they could be dug out of the ground almost anywhere; and yet De Beers doesn't have a monopoly on real estate.

Well, gemstone-quality diamonds ARE quite rare ... but diamonds are not. There are known diamond mines in (non-exhaustive list follows) the Republic of South Africa, Russia, Australia, Canada, Angola, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Syria and even Arkansas (although the mine never produced enough diamonds to be commercially viable, it's quite a popular tourist attraction). Although natural diamonds are not common, they are NOT exceptionally rare. High-quality emeralds are MUCH rarer than D-grade (investment quality (colorless, flawless under 10x magnification)) diamonds and MUCH more expensive.

The monopoly problem arises when you consider that DeBeers has a monopoly on diamond mining in the RSA, which unquestionably boasts the richest KNOWN Kimberlite pipes on earth. None of the other producers can afford to piss off DeBeers because, just like the Saudis control oil prices, nobody can undercut them for very long if they want to stay in business. DeBeers has the production capacity in place and amortized/depreciated such that they can COLLAPSE world diamond prices and keep them that way long enough to bankrupt all the other producers combined. The smaller producers go along with DeBeers prices because they HAVE to to stay alive.

In response to this portion of the parent post:

... products, in there native state (unfinished for diamonds, ... ), are essentially worthless.

Nice try, but WELL off the mark. The VAST majority of diamonds mined in the world are sold for industrial use as abrasives. These diamonds are merely crushed and size-graded, and they make up the bulk of the revenue stream from a diamond mine. Gemstone-grade diamonds are such a miniscule fraction of total production that the gem-grade stones could also be crushed and the mines would still be profitable. The extra profit from supplying the jewelry trade is pure gravy.

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utter rubbish
Re:Disadvantages by 403Forbidden · 2002-12-27 10:48 · Score: 2

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Diamonds have been perfectly maufactured, but Debeers somehow can control the amount that are made per year to create artificial demand. Also Debeers puts IDs on the diamonds to make them "authentic."

Even if manufacture isn't perfect, this isn't for looks, it's for electrical use.
Re:Disadvantages by A+Bugg · 2002-12-27 12:30 · Score: 1

i think maybe what the previous poster meant was that they were essentially worthless in resale value and not worthless to the mining companies, and the truth be told they are pretty worthless when considering resale value. .
a bugg
Re:Disadvantages by Ninja+Master+Gara · 2002-12-27 20:24 · Score: 1

Not so long ago, I remember seeing a special about diamond production on Discovery. Several companies now make perfect gem quality diamonds. The gem is indistiguishable from a cultured diamond except through some VERY specialized tests, many of which involve destroying the diamond. Most of these companies advertise their products as artificial, and indeed consider it a selling point. Some claim their diamonds are completely indisitinguishable, even under these tests.
A russian company is referenced often in relation to high quality synthetic diamonds.
Some references:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2703diamo nd.html
http://sdiamond.50megs.com/
http://www.lucentdiamonds.com/article_list.htm

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When I grow up, I want to be a kid again.
Re:Disadvantages by gmahan · 2002-12-30 02:13 · Score: 1

Yup..diamonds are indeed a lot cheaper these days, and the smart buyer can even negotiate a bit with some jewlers.

I got my wife a 1.2 carat diamond in a platinum setting. It wasn't flawless, but it was something like a $7000 diamond in 1982 dollars. I got it, and the setting, for under $2000.
Re:Disadvantages by kalidasa · 2002-12-30 02:20 · Score: 2

Ninewands - thanks for the correction re: gemstone-quality diamonds, which were the only diamonds I was considering in my postings.
The rest of your posting is an excellent example of how properly to argue with someone you disagree with, and maintain the respect of your interlocutor.
Re:Disadvantages by thorilan · 2002-12-30 12:10 · Score: 1

well you are mostly correct but one fact that most people miss is that there is roughly about 200000 times more diamonds in the world than the ones we see in the jewelry store. we use them in all kinds of things. the reason most diamonds arnt valuable is because they are perfect and wont reflect light because the light passes right through them like normal glass and they arnt good for jewelry. as for jewelry we pay a 1000% -3000% mark up . that is why jewelry stores only have to sell a few peices to stay in business each month. as for the original intent of the article of ceramics and alternate materials , i think its not a bad idea to try. i work in japan for one of the largest companies that does hybrid ceramic material research btw. personaly i think ceramics are old and holding back he technilogical leaps that sci fi movies aspire to , and that we need to put more into research and design of new materials that can meet the needs of today

higher electrical resistance? by w42w42 · 2002-12-27 05:38 · Score: 2, Interesting

Isn't that a bad thing? It would increase power requirements, create heat, etc. Even if a diamond chip could stand that, not everything else in the box can - not to mention being a problem for laptop batteries.

Re:higher electrical resistance? by dillon_rinker · 2002-12-27 05:44 · Score: 2

What's really cool is that diamond is flammable =)
Re:higher electrical resistance? by crgrace · 2002-12-27 05:54 · Score: 2, Informative

They mean it can withstand higher voltages, not that it has higher electrical resistance. Silicon is an excellent insulator (extremely high electrical resistance) unless impurities (dopants) are added. That is key to the operation of a MOSFET.
Re:higher electrical resistance? by Khomar · 2002-12-27 06:02 · Score: 1

Isn't that a bad thing? It would increase power requirements, create heat, etc. Even if a diamond chip could stand that, not everything else in the box can - not to mention being a problem for laptop batteries.

As stated in the article:

This property means that diamond chips can... be placed in a high-temperature environment, such as a vehicle's engine.

As I understand this, the chips allow computer components to be placed in areas that were prohibitive with silicon due to cooling requirements. High-end mainframes could also be designed differently around the new capabilities.

Someday I will think up a good sig.

--
I believe in de-evolution. God made the world perfect, man fell, and its been going downhill ever since!
Re:higher electrical resistance? by Neon+Spiral+Injector · 2002-12-27 06:04 · Score: 1

I have found that with enough oxygen and heat most things are flammable. >:)
Re:higher electrical resistance? by dillon_rinker · 2002-12-27 08:45 · Score: 2

Silicon dioxide is not flammable.
Re:higher electrical resistance? by w42w42 · 2002-12-27 13:09 · Score: 1

Mod this one up. Nice explanation, thanks.

so i'll be buying my next cpu from... by ltwally · 2002-12-27 05:38 · Score: 1

...the jewelry store?

please tell me we're going to start seeing OEM Jewelers popping up now... retail prices are murder!

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/dev/random

What about the draining of the semiconductors by lordShiva · 2002-12-27 05:38 · Score: 1

I thought that we had reached the limitations of linear computing.... such as the height of moore's law..

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_-^ D3\/1|_ ^-_ in me

quick thoughts by greechneb · 2002-12-27 05:39 · Score: 5, Funny

I'm glad they waited until after I bought an engagement ring...

Intel may now become the United States largest diamond importer.

Just as long as the jewelry store doesn't put up a sign saying "Intel Insides Inside"

Re:quick thoughts by ackthpt · 2002-12-27 05:50 · Score: 1

I'm glad they waited until after I bought an engagement ring...
What? You didn't know all women are already networked in a huge, anti-guy conspiracy? Well, that certainly takes the ca
[NO CARRIER]

--

A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar

And you thought Intel was expensive before by pr0c · 2002-12-27 05:40 · Score: 1

Just when you think nothing can be more expensive than a Pentium processor (as compared to athlons) they invent a way.

And what the @#^%#? I go to check prices and a Athlon XP 2700 333 costs almost as much as a P4 2.8 ghz.

What you don't want to buy a diamond Pentium 5? Too bad thats all that Dell and Gateway sells and you must buy a diamond cd of WindowsXP SE, all for the remarkable low price of 6,000 dollars.

There are not enough diamonds in the world... by _PimpDaddy7_ · 2002-12-27 05:41 · Score: 1

There's no way enough diamonds in the world to do this....

Women will be pissed....LOL

expensive by ScubaS · 2002-12-27 05:42 · Score: 1

There are ways to synthetically create diamonds; which are worth nothing in the jewelry market. but then again what geek wouldnt buy a 14k diamond for his love?

Diamond Chips = Thermal death by johngaunt · 2002-12-27 05:42 · Score: 2, Interesting

As I recall, one of the ways to utterly destroy a diamond is to run an excess amount of current through it. So, if you try to overclock your diamond chip, could you vaporize it? What about current overloads caused by over heating or bad power supply? Could be interesting.

--
In the wild there are no dumb lions tigers or bears. Only humanity subsidizes the continued existence of the stupid.

Re:Diamond Chips = Thermal death by Neon+Spiral+Injector · 2002-12-27 06:08 · Score: 1

And what is that magic smoke that escapes from my hard drives when I touch the molex connector up backwards? Or any time I smell that sickingly sweet smell.

The same problems with over heating and bad power supplies also applies to silicon. I would suspect that diamond is actually a little more tollerant. I have no idea.
Re:Diamond Chips = Thermal death by jc42 · 2002-12-27 07:32 · Score: 2

So, if you try to overclock your diamond chip, could you vaporize it?

Nah; most of it would just reconfigure as graphite, except at the surface.

There is a problem with overly-warm diamonds in an oxygen atmosphere: Occasionally, a C atom will join up with a passing O2 molecule and they'll wander off together. This doesn't happen with diamond rings, because the temperature required would be high enough that you'd pull the ring off. But it is a worry in a chip that you want to last for years. But it's easy enough to prevent. You just cover exposed diamond surfaces with a layer of something that blocks the oxygen. Gold will do quite nicely.

--
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
Re:Diamond Chips = Thermal death by darkonc · 2002-12-27 12:06 · Score: 1

You just cover exposed diamond surfaces with a layer of something that blocks the oxygen. Gold will do quite nicely.
Oh, yeah, real nice... It'd prevent oxidation, but a gold layer on the chip would pretty much destroy it's electrical properties... Gold would also melt long before the chip did. Probably just enclosing the chip in a nitrogen filled cap would do the job well enough.

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Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.

Other Advantages by Bobman1235 · 2002-12-27 05:43 · Score: 1

The main advantages of diamond include heat resistance and higher electrical resistance.

And of course the relative abundance of it and extreme low cost.

Practicality anyone?

Re:Other Advantages by Squarewav · 2002-12-27 13:10 · Score: 2

actualy diamonds are abundant, its just that the ones good enough to make a ring out of are very rare , the majority of diamonds they pull out of the ground are ether too yellow or are not shaped properly making them useless for anything other then sand paper

damn debeers by Elwood+P+Dowd · 2002-12-27 05:43 · Score: 2

this will be a better plan if someone can bust the debeers monopoly, and make diamonds a semi-precious stone.

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There are no trails. There are no trees out here.

Re:damn debeers by Telastyn · 2002-12-27 05:48 · Score: 2

A quick look at the industry says that manufactured diamonds are within probably a decade or two of being honestly competative, and then another decade or two after that for them to be "accepted", or thought of by the masses as not being 'less than' natural diamonds.

If this takes off, it will likely help manufactured diamonds' cause, as their demand will be significantly higher (and manufactured diamonds' main problem, color, is irrelevant when being used for industry and not jewlery)
Re:damn debeers by Dr+Caleb · 2002-12-27 06:11 · Score: 2

I'd like to know when Fabrage will introduce the Egg based server.

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"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain
Re:damn debeers by Elwood+P+Dowd · 2002-12-27 06:15 · Score: 2

Yeah. That is correct. But diamonds would be "cheap" tomorrow if DeBeers didn't hold its monopoly.

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There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
Re:damn debeers by ninewands · 2002-12-27 10:15 · Score: 2

Quoth the poster:

A quick look at the industry says that manufactured diamonds are within probably a decade or two of being honestly competative, and then another decade or two after that for them to be "accepted"

Depends on the market you are looking at. Synthetic diamond is the "Gold Standard" for many industrial applications and has been for the last 12-15 years. This is because synthetic diamonds, which are manufactured under highly controlled conditions have much more predictable properties than natural stones and they can be made in forms (e.g. polycrystalline "sheets" for facing cutters on rock bits) that just aren't available in natural diamond.

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utter rubbish

Resistance by ackthpt · 2002-12-27 05:43 · Score: 1

The main advantages of diamond include heat resistance and higher electrical resistance.

Resistance is ... useful?

I can barely imagine the ThermalTake Volcanoes for these things...

--

A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar

Re:Resistance by Anonymous Coward · 2002-12-27 06:30 · Score: 2, Interesting

heat tolerance is important as the power dissipated is impressive with today's chips. Due to diamond's rather large bandgap, heat tolerance is a better than Si. Resistance is also useful. I'd imagine creating a MOSFET with a leaky gate is problematic. Part of the reason that BJTs dominated in the early days of the semiconductor industry is the lack of a suitable substance as an insulator between the gate and the channel. I'm thinking the researchers are referring to diamond's natural ability in undoped form to resist current flow, so that's one less obstacle to overcome.

So, no more ZIF sockets? by Uninvited+Guest · 2002-12-27 05:46 · Score: 1

If the CPU is a diamond, I can just jam it in there with all the force I want!

--
Sometimes I worry that I'll develop Alzheimer's disease, but no one will notice.

Re:So, no more ZIF sockets? by ackthpt · 2002-12-27 06:00 · Score: 1

If the CPU is a diamond, I can just jam it in there with all the force I want!
Shows what you know about jewelry... you have to mount a diamond.

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A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar

Diamond? Man's Best Friend? by lordShiva · 2002-12-27 05:47 · Score: 1

WIll women have to buy a man a diamond now... look honey slip on this motherboard, awww it fit's perfect, *on knees* will you marry me?

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_-^ D3\/1|_ ^-_ in me

"up to 1,000 degrees Celsius" by burgburgburg · 2002-12-27 05:47 · Score: 5, Funny

"Diamond chips can work at a temperature of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius, while silicon chips stop working above 150 degrees Celsius"

Imagine the overclocking!

Re:"up to 1,000 degrees Celsius" by IWantMoreSpamPlease · 2002-12-27 06:09 · Score: 1

Nevermind the overclocking, imagine the silence...no more fans, and as an added bonus, you get a stovetop cooker with every purchase :-)

--
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
Re:"up to 1,000 degrees Celsius" by JVert · 2002-12-27 07:10 · Score: 1

Anyone a little concerned about "The China Syndrome"?
Re:"up to 1,000 degrees Celsius" by brejc8 · 2002-12-27 07:25 · Score: 2

What do you case it in?
What kind of wires do you attach?

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Mouse powered Chips, Open source Processors and Lego
Re:"up to 1,000 degrees Celsius" by digitalsushi · 2002-12-27 09:29 · Score: 2

I already overclocked one. You can see the firewire running through the backplane.

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slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue
Re:"up to 1,000 degrees Celsius" by Mattsson · 2002-12-27 12:46 · Score: 1

Hehe. Yeah.
But what will Intel do when we start using Carats instead of Megaherts to measure speed? =-)

--
/.Mattsson - My native language is not English, so please don't whine over linguistic errors. (That's lame anyway...)
Re:"up to 1,000 degrees Celsius" by Kanasta · 2002-12-27 14:00 · Score: 1

Hmm... I didn't really want my PC running at 150C, so why r they offering to make it run at 1000C?
Re:"up to 1,000 degrees Celsius" by lvdrproject · 2002-12-27 21:24 · Score: 1

... I don't know, what will they do?
Not that that's going to happen anyway.

Heat resitstance? by Yokaze · 2002-12-27 05:47 · Score: 2

Tell me, when we reach temperatures that will make Si melt :)

I thought the main advantage of diamond over Si is a better heat conductance.

--
"Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"

Re:Heat resitstance? by crgrace · 2002-12-27 05:56 · Score: 1

You are correct, the artical wasn't very clear from a technical standpoint. C has better heat conductance so it can "resist" high temperatures and voltages more easily than silicon. They didn't mean resistance in an electrical context.
Re:Heat resitstance? by wirelessbuzzers · 2002-12-27 06:24 · Score: 1

I thought the main advantage of diamond over Si is a better heat conductance

What are you talking about? Diamonds resist all at +19%!

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I hereby place the above post in the public domain.

this is fantastic! by TechnoVooDooDaddy · 2002-12-27 05:49 · Score: 2

Now the diamond conglomerates will face extreme pressure to quit artificially inflating and regulating the cost of diamonds..

Re:this is fantastic! by Surreal_Streaker · 2002-12-27 07:56 · Score: 1

Now the diamond conglomerates will face extreme pressure to quit artificially inflating and regulating the cost of diamonds..
SARCASM
Oh Right, increased demand will drive prices way down.
/SARCASM
Re:this is fantastic! by lvdrproject · 2002-12-27 21:27 · Score: 1

You can't define a word using the very same word, guy.

I cant remember the tune by YellowSnow · 2002-12-27 05:52 · Score: 1

Diamonds are a geeks best friend

And in other news. by Lochin+Rabbar · 2002-12-27 05:54 · Score: 1

USAF bombs South Africa in the mistaken belief that they are flying over Iraq.

I'd better start planning now... by AlfaGiik · 2002-12-27 05:54 · Score: 1

With these low interest rates I could take out a second mortgage for that new processor.

/me heads over to ditech.com

Diamond Age by eyeball · 2002-12-27 05:55 · Score: 2

Another case of life imitating art... or at least catching up with it. To anyone interested in nanotechnology, I suggest reading the Neal Stephenson book "The Diamond Age".

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_______
2B1ASK1

Cheap Jewelry by AlgUSF · 2002-12-27 05:56 · Score: 1

I don't know if they will be able to find enough of those diamond flecks (what they cut off while making REAL diamonds). It seems like people these days are buying more and more of that ghetto jewelry with diamond flecks. They might need to use the synthetic diamond material that is use in diamond cutting edges....

--

I want my rights back. I was actually using them when our government stole them after 9/11.

Ouch! by Pig+Hogger · 2002-12-27 05:57 · Score: 2

I'd hate to pay for a beowulf cluster of those!!!

Did this... Star Wars Research in 80's by snatchitup · 2002-12-27 05:57 · Score: 4, Interesting

When I was at Auburn, we had Star Wars funding to look into this. We had created a diode that switched at 2000 celcius.

The idea was to have IC circuits right inside the rocket engines.

Not likely.... by abouttime · 2002-12-27 06:00 · Score: 1

One of the most important properties of silicon is the easy to form (both in thickness and control of growth rate) and stable oxide.

Most of an integrated circuit is not active, and just exists for alignment errors and isolation of deplition regions.

I really doubt that Diamond dioxide will be as easy to form as Silicon dioxide.

Worst nightmare: by Pig+Hogger · 2002-12-27 06:00 · Score: 2

Pentiums are forever????

Re:first post by The+Analog+Kid · 2002-12-27 06:00 · Score: 1

Diamonds aren't even the most expensive rock either, Rubies are since there aren't as much. Now the uses of a diamond greatly exceed a Ruby, since its the hardest rock can be used for drilling and the sort. Oh yes, its also Freezes best friend(batman).

Higher electrical resistance? Huh? by ari_j · 2002-12-27 06:01 · Score: 2

Wait a minute...

The main advantages of diamond include heat resistance and higher electrical resistance.

This seems to be going quite in the opposite direction of superconductor research and what most people generally think of as sound design principles - less electrical resistance means a more efficient contraption, right? So what gives? I can't get to the article from here given my Christmas-reduced bandwidth, but is this a Slashdot misprint or is this the truth; and if it's real, then what gives? Why is higher electrical resistance suddenly an advantage?

One thing they didn't mention... by crgrace · 2002-12-27 06:01 · Score: 5, Informative

There is (at least) one key advantage silicon has over diamond (or any semiconductor except Germanium). It has a self-repairing crystal lattice. When dopant atoms (phosphorous, arsenic, etc.) are injected into the bulk silicon wafer using ion implantation (diffusion not used in practice too much anymore) they cause structural damage to the crystal lattice which would hurt circuit performace. However, Silicon has this magical property that if you heat it up to the right temperature (several hundred degrees Celcius) the lattice begins to reorganize itself to incorporate the dopant atoms without damage. Tis process is called Annealing and it is one of the key reasons Silicon became the dominant semiconductor (the other was the availability of a good thermal oxide, SiO2).

Diamond does not have this desirable property, so a lot of research will have to go into maintaining the quality of the crystal lattice.

News was thin by mugnyte · 2002-12-27 06:03 · Score: 3, Informative

Here's some background on diamond films:
In July of this year, scientists in the United States reported that isotopically pure diamond films (containing 99.9% carbon-12 and not the 1% carbon-13 that is present in natural diamonds) had been grown. The pure films not only conducted hear 50% better than the best natural diamonds but also withstood damage by laser radiation ten times more effectively than natural diamond.

One could have the concept of combining functions: Glass that serves as a semiconductor, etc. Interesting.

I don't know if manufactured diamonds theaten the jewelry industry, but I doubt it. Although hundreds of almost-slaves labor in mines so deep it's scary, and the industry is full of creepy deals, people buy them, and the industry churns them out just the same.

mug

Re:News was thin by CrackersnSoup · 2002-12-27 06:40 · Score: 1

They do very much. I heard Debeers laser ingrave's thier diamonds now.

http://www.russianbrilliants.net/

I wonder if this process will be used to make the diamonds for cpu's?

Crackers`n`Soup

I can see it now.... by m_smitty · 2002-12-27 06:04 · Score: 1

My fiancé waking up in the morning with her engagement ring missing. Finds me at my work bench mod'ing my PC with her ring, screaming "Scotty we need more power!"

Re:I can see it now.... by lvdrproject · 2002-12-27 21:38 · Score: 2

fiancé
n.
A man to whom a woman is engaged to be married.

Think you meant "fiancée", there, ace.

Pilfering by el_flynn · 2002-12-27 06:04 · Score: 1

I wonder if, once the technology becomes ubiquitious, this would cause a rise in PC-related thefts? Imagine a large fleet of Dell machines being hijacked and stripped for the diamond contents.

And what about recycling machines that use those chips? Would we see an increase in dumpster diving habits? There'd probably be a lot more people spending time in dump sites combing through the trash to look for things like these.

--
The Wknd Sessions - Malaysian and South East Asia independent music

Re:Pilfering by BeeShoo · 2002-12-27 06:27 · Score: 2

Not all diamonds are gem quality, and therefore, not as valuable (leaving aside for the moment the debate about the "value" of objects purely because they're shiny). In another life, or at least it seems that way, I was a machinist. Diamond cutting bits are quite common and desirable (for some jobs) because of their hardness. While these tools are more expensive, because they don't use gem quality diamonds, they aren't near as expensive as you would think.

It's doubtful that any gem quality diamonds would ever be used for chips.

Re:Higher electrical resistance? Huh? by crgrace · 2002-12-27 06:05 · Score: 2

I've said this already, but the article was confusing. They meant diamond has a can withstand higher temp. and voltage, not that it was higher resistance in an electrical sense. Their use of resistance had nothing to do with Ohm's Law. I guess the author didn't know about the way the phrase is generally used in electronics.

Also, they are talking about semiconductors, not superconductors. Very different beasts.

Abundance is driven by cost. by oneiros27 · 2002-12-27 06:06 · Score: 2

The more than something costs, the more practical refining lower quality ore or synthetics becomes. You do it on too large of a scale, however, and you flood the market, and you can't make a profit, so it's a fairly delicate balance.

There may also be advances in detection technology, collection, or other factors that'll result in more expense, but with it, greater abundance.

I mean, think about it... scientists and environmentalists keep talking about how we're going to run out of fossil fuels, but they always seem to keep extending out the critical date... It most likely will run out sooner or later, but the oil companies will keep finding a way to prolong it to make a profit as long as they can.

--
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.

Complete solution? by brejc8 · 2002-12-27 06:07 · Score: 3, Informative

Yes Diamonds are better than Silicon but:

You still cannot get past some limmiting factors like speed of light and the absolute minnimum structure size.

What the Japanease are looking into will be very large chips. Diamonds are the only good way to get a good yeilds of these. But still when you have a 10x10mm 100 GHz chip it takes several clock cycles to get some information from one side of the chip to the other.

Normal design methodologies will no longer work in the near future just like they are starting to get difficult now. (Moore's Law slowing down)

--
Mouse powered Chips, Open source Processors and Lego

Re:Complete solution? by kaxman · 2002-12-27 09:52 · Score: 1

It's like, if we can't make it any smaller, we'll just find something harder and smash a few trillion more electrons through it. Let me borrow freely. Figure out what'll melt it, and then back it off a little.

--
Everyone on slashdot has a journal.

Diamond dioxide by YellowSnow · 2002-12-27 06:08 · Score: 1

Diamond dioxide is actually incredibly easy to form AKA carbon dioxide, I've probably breathed out a few ounces today.

Re:Higher electrical resistance? Huh? by dnoyeb · 2002-12-27 06:09 · Score: 2

conduction is the opposite of resistance. Hence a semi-conductor could be called a semi-resistor, so to speak.

Indeed diamonds are not semi-conductors but complete insulators and they dont pass current. Its rather bizarre but micro-electronics is not of the hardest classes. Its really a physics class to do with electron migration...

Re:Higher electrical resistance? Huh? by rootus-rootus · 2002-12-27 06:09 · Score: 1

Don't forget thet the pure Si substrate in a chip is an electrical insulator. You want to have the highest possible resistance in the insulator to prevent electron migration in the doped areas of the chip.

--
The moral of the story is: "Always remember to mount a scratch monkey."

Becoming a CPU by thinkliberty · 2002-12-27 06:11 · Score: 2, Funny

When I die maybe I can become a CPU! Thanks to intel and lifegems http://www.lifegems.com Maybe Intel will want to buy grandpa when he croaks. In the future you'll be able to get a faster processor everytime a loved one dies!

Gratuitous misogynist comments by YellowSnow · 2002-12-27 06:15 · Score: 4, Funny

I got my girl a diamond earing so she had some processing power above the neck.
Now SHE wants a beowulf cluster of these.

Re:Gratuitous misogynist comments by Alsee · 2002-12-28 02:20 · Score: 2

I got my girl a diamond earing so she had some processing power above the neck.

Oh females have tons of processing power above the neck. It's just that they have different logic gates.

Men have logic gates like AND, OR, NAND, NOR, and XOR.

Women have logic gates like SOMETIMES, MAYBE, OCCATIONALLY, THE-OPPOSITE-OF-LAST-TIME, WHAT-DAY-OF-THE-MONTH-IS-IT, READ-MY-MIND-DAMNIT, OOOH!PRETTY-ROCKS!, and many others that no one has been able to figure out yet.

-

--
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.

a bit, OT, but diamonds are not rare... by venomkid · 2002-12-27 06:19 · Score: 1

...nor would they be expensive, were it not for diamond cartels in africa with a stranglehold on the mines.

DeBeers Consolidated Mining Co. was started in the 1880s to accomplish exactly this. Control diamond supply in order to raise prices.

To control demand, they invented the diamond engagement ring. They'll tell you it was invented in 1477, but this is just the first instance of an engagement ring being given with a diamond in it.

The "Diamond Engagement Ring" standard wasn't established until their "A Diamond is Forever" advertising campaign started in the late 1930s. It's still going, with those cool shadow commercials.

However, recently other mine companies have been gaining ground, and soon there will be more competition, but it's still gonna be a fight. ...

The diamonds in these chips will be artificial, so i'm just randomly kickin knowledge here. Have fun with it, and if you're lucky, maybe your fiancé will understand and save you a few grand...

--
vk.

Re:Higher electrical resistance? Huh? by crgrace · 2002-12-27 06:22 · Score: 2

All useful semiconductors are actually semi-insulators: you need doping and bias to promote electrons to the conduction band. In fact, semiconductors are sometimes characterized by their "bandgap voltage" which means how much voltage is required to promote an electron from the valence band, where it is tightly held to the lattice, and the conduction band, where it can move freely as part of an electrical current. The thing that makes diamond withstand high temperatures and voltages, its high bandgap, is also on of the things that makes it hard to work with.

Oh sh*t by e144539 · 2002-12-27 06:27 · Score: 1, Funny

Here come the carbon-based artificial life forms.

In Robert Leach voice: by Matey-O · 2002-12-27 06:28 · Score: 2

The main advantages of diamond include heat resistance and higher electrical resistance.

And a certain BLING, BABY!

--
"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."

Diamond Data by notestein · 2002-12-27 06:41 · Score: 4, Informative

The idea of using diamond as a semiconductor has been kicking around for years with quite a bit of research being done world wide.

Technology Research News has an article published in September that discusses this.

Among other things they mention that diamond's charge carrier mobility is three times better.

Diamond transistors could in theory deliver one watt of power at 100 gigahertz, or billion cycles per second, said Isberg. This is five times faster has been achieved using the semiconductor Gallium Arsenide.

Diamond-based electronics would also be better than existing semiconductor materials for high-temperature applications, said Isberg. Diamond conducts heat 15 times more efficiently than silicon, and therefore cools faster.

etc. etc.

--

www.bannination.com Two things float to the top he

Re:Diamond Data by xo0m · 2002-12-27 09:53 · Score: 1

how much will these cost? on the avg that is...

And now of course.... by b96miata · 2002-12-27 06:41 · Score: 2, Funny

We cue the pseudo-gangsta asian kid saying "Even mah pc is iced out FOOOL!"

Higher voltage AND higher speed?? by Rick.C · 2002-12-27 06:47 · Score: 1

Okay, I'm not a double-E, but aren't "higher speed" and "higher voltage" at opposite ends of the trade-off spectrum? It takes a finite time for the voltage to rise from "0" level to "1" level. A higher voltage threshold for the "1" ("ON") state should translate to a longer rise-time, si?

Isn't that why faster CPUs have lower core voltages? Sure, you also get lower heat dissipation and power consumption, but isn't the primary reason speed?

Rick.C - "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" -- um.. you must be using a -seriously- abridged dictionary!

--
You were 80% angel, 10% demon. The rest was hard to explain. - Over The Rhine
"Math in a song is good."-Linford

Uh oh... by c_monster · 2002-12-27 06:57 · Score: 2, Funny

How will we tell the people from the machines if we can't refer to them as carbon-based and silicon-based life anymore?

--
Read the full text my book Perl for the Web

Some diamond facts. by mindstrm · 2002-12-27 07:07 · Score: 3, Informative

- Diamonds, as used in jewelry, are artificially rare. That's right.. the rock on your engagement ring is only rare because DeBeers & friends keep millions and millions of diamonds locked up in vaults. This is not conspiracy theory... it's a verifiable fact.

- The average cost of diamond, if all diamonds available were in circulation, instead of in vaults, would be about $1.50 per ct.

- Small diamonds, the kind used in diamond saws, industry, etcetera, are NOT expensive, like your engagement ring. Small diamonds are common and cheap, because they have no real jewelry market. Diamond impregnated stones and blades cost more because it costs more to manufacture them.. not because of the diamond.

- Good luck convincing your girl of ANY of this. You still have to buy that rock. Get over it..

Re:Some diamond facts. by mindstrm · 2002-12-27 15:28 · Score: 1

Diplomacy: The art of letting other people do what you want.

What overclocking? by zanderredux · 2002-12-27 07:10 · Score: 1

Chip manufacturers would implement some sort of frequency cap, just as AMD did with the newer Athlon XP chips. Although the chips could stand the heat, would PCB boards do? Or the PC casing and wiring? Makes me think...

Looking forward to my first diamond-based PC by pogen · 2002-12-27 07:12 · Score: 2

How else can two months' salary last forever?

Pfft! by Quixadhal · 2002-12-27 07:27 · Score: 2

And you guys thought they couldn't find a way to make computers really expensive again!

The main advantages of diamond by Hubert_Shrump · 2002-12-27 07:34 · Score: 3, Funny

...include... higher electrical resistance.

Is that all it takes? I have lots of stuff here that might be groundbreaking...

World awed by carpet-based semiconductor

--
Keep your packets off my GNU/Girlfriend!

Re:The main advantages of diamond by RKloti · 2002-12-27 12:02 · Score: 1

You might have some ESD problems with your carpet-based semiconductor. It had better be grounded.

Re:Higher electrical resistance? Huh? by iggymanz · 2002-12-27 07:44 · Score: 2

very high resistance is good for the substrate, upon which you place your doped (conductive) materials for active components, and metals for "wires"....this keeps current leakage down.

Wasn't there a specific reason why Si was used? by tstoneman · 2002-12-27 07:45 · Score: 1

It's been 12 years since my semiconductors course, so forgive me, but wasn't there a specific reason why Si was used? It seems like it there were specific properties of silicon that made it more inherently valuable than carbon. I think the main thing was that since carbon and silicon are in the same columns on the periodic table, they shared similar chemical properties, but I seem to remember vaguely that silicon maybe interacted differently with the doped molecules that were added to make semiconductors?

Bah. I'm going to have to open up my damn semiconductor books again when I get home. Goddamnit, I thought I was through with all that studying!!!

Re:Wasn't there a specific reason why Si was used? by InfiniteWisdom · 2002-12-27 09:14 · Score: 2, Funny

They used to used vaccum tubes to build computers before. Some properties of vaccum tubes were inherently more valuable than heaps of sand.

How is it that they aren't using vaccum tubes any more?

SiO2 vs. CO2 by jmv · 2002-12-27 07:47 · Score: 2

I wonder how they're going to replace SiO2 as an insulator. With silicon, if you want an insulator, you just add oxygen and heat a bit and you get an SiO2 (glass) layer, which is a good insulator. With Carbon (diamond), all you'd get is CO2, which is pretty useless (not to mention anti-Kyoto). They'll need a good (and cheap) insulator for carbon, don't remember what they did for GaAs, though...

--
Opus: the Swiss army knife of audio codec

Re:SiO2 vs. CO2 by digital+photo · 2002-12-27 08:58 · Score: 1

Diamond IS an insulator. An insulator to electrical current, but it is a very efficient heat conductor/radiator.
Silicon is also an insulator. It is doped with Oxygen to improve the insulation factor and doped with other compounds(arsenic,gallium,phosphor,etc.) to improve conductivity and to create P and N regions.
The question would be how one would get the doping to work for Diamonds.
Personally, I think they will have to revert to particle accelerators. Since bombarding the carbon matrix of a diamon would be equivelent to doping... albeit at a much lower concentration level. Works well enough to turn a clear diamond blue...

--

Winged Power Photography
Re:SiO2 vs. CO2 by jmv · 2002-12-27 11:40 · Score: 2

Diamond IS an insulator

Pure Si is an insulator too, but not good enough for the ultra-thin gates of MOS transistors in current designs. Gate (leak) currents are already getting too large for SiO2 and I doubt that diamond is better than SiO2... Also, if you're doping, it's likely that you can't get pure-C (diamond) insulators.

For doping, I guess there isn't much choice other than to use nitrogen and Boron with ion implant...

--
Opus: the Swiss army knife of audio codec
Re:SiO2 vs. CO2 by digital+photo · 2002-12-28 08:56 · Score: 1

Well, pure diamond won't be a problem since the doping process for diamond won't be the same for Si.
If I remember correctly, Si is doped by overheating it and exposing it to a gaseos environment of the required doping agent. This causes a layer to be effectively doped. Subsequent UV/mask/doping layers is what builds up the Si based chips.
With a diamond, I don't be believe that that would be feasible unless they incorporate the gaseous doping agents during the diamond layer process.
All in all, the cost would be astronomical. What did the article say? It would costs thousands of dollars of a few square mm of a diamond wafer whereas the same for Si wafers is virtually free.
It will be an interesting period... with what would be, I'm sure, equally spectactular plan "accidents". >:)

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Winged Power Photography

Carbon-based unit by tstoneman · 2002-12-27 07:50 · Score: 1

Whoops, looks like the original Star Trek movie will have become obsolete now, since computers will also be carbon-based units as well!

Will this replace their love of the ruby? by egg+troll · 2002-12-27 08:02 · Score: 2

I thought everyone knew that the favorite gem of the Japanese was the Ruby!

--

C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.

Dead people chips by gCGBD · 2002-12-27 08:17 · Score: 1

You may recall the story on Slashdot from a few months ago Cremation? Burial? How about Diamonds? where the deceased can be cremated and turned into diamonds.

Extending that idea just a little...

It give a whole new meaning to naming a machine.

... "Log into Grandpa over there to see if he is up." ...

... "I used to have a family. Now I have a Beowulf cluster" ...

--

O=='=++

More pollution! by salientpoints · 2002-12-27 08:18 · Score: 1

With all this slashtalk about responsibly disposing of/recycling your hardware components something like this develops.

Diamonds aren't biodegradable--in fact, they're reverse-biodegradable: under the earth, they become more diamondy through time.

The Japanese will soon discover they will have diamond runoff from their landfills. This will get into their drinking water and they will ingest it and start developing diamond deposits in their joints.

On the other hand, so to speak, if I ever get married I'll be wearing a pda on my ring finger

the real p5 by sogo · 2002-12-27 08:29 · Score: 1

The Next Generation of Processors: Pentium Diamond finally a name that doesn't include a number

Give me a beowulf cluster of... by Hatechall · 2002-12-27 08:31 · Score: 1

Never mind

Diamonds can spontaneously combust. by digital+photo · 2002-12-27 08:53 · Score: 2, Funny

True quartz has piezoelectric factors... but Diamonds can burn! Just like coal... except they explode due to the pressures inherit in their creation...

Overclocker1: Shit, wonder how many more degrees I can clock this baby...

Overclocker2: Did you remove the oxygen?

Overclocker1: What? Why?

*BOOM*

Okay, maybe not that drastic... but it's pretty nasty.

--

Winged Power Photography

AMD... by Anonvmous+Coward · 2002-12-27 09:05 · Score: 2

"This property means that diamond chips can work at a much higher frequency or faster speed and be placed in a high-temperature environment, such as a vehicle's engine..." ... or an Athlon machine.

Re:Only a couple thousand degrees more.... by DuBois · 2002-12-27 10:46 · Score: 2

I already have a Sun server...

Oh wait... You didn't mean that kind of Sun.

--
The IPCC has purposely engineered a massive scientific fraud.

A Pentium 4 may be quite continental, by multiplexo · 2002-12-27 11:58 · Score: 1

but diamonds are a geek's best friend.

OK, I'll stop now.

--
cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.

Neglected to mention... by Hubert_Shrump · 2002-12-27 12:13 · Score: 2

Scuffing feet new trend in tablet-pc users

--
Keep your packets off my GNU/Girlfriend!

A diamond is forever... by laard · 2002-12-27 12:16 · Score: 1

...but this one becomes obsolete every three to six months!

--
--- If we knew half the things we shouldn't we'd stop wishing we knew it all

Talk about a hot computer by Black+Copter+Control · 2002-12-27 12:18 · Score: 2

Diamond chips can work at a temperature of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius, while silicon chips stop working above 150 degrees Celsius,

Yep. I can just see it now. Camouflaging my 4 processer server as a hot-plate. Problem is, when I set my computer to 'simmer' quake goes down to 158 frames/second.

--
OS Software is like love: The best way to make it grow is to give it away.

Stephenson Ref? by Throatwarbler+Mangro · 2002-12-27 16:10 · Score: 1

OK, I've just done a cursory search of this discussion, and you know what I've found?

Not one reference to Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age!!!

I know it's tangentially related at best, but c'mon people: This is Slashdot fer cryin' out loud!

Boys best friend? by chris_sawtell · 2002-12-27 17:59 · Score: 2

I think so.

Last Post! by alpg · 2003-01-09 16:19 · Score: 1

VMS Beer: Requires minimal user interaction, except for popping the top
and sipping. However cans have been known on occasion to explode, or
contain extremely un-beer-like contents.

- this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...

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