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Intel: Metal in Future Chips = Less Leakage (updated)
securitas writes "Intel is contemplating using metal instead of silicon in future chips for the 'transistor gate, which controls whether a transistor is on or off' and the 'dielectric, an insulating layer below the gate,' which are respectively made of silicon atoms and silicon dioxide. 'Millions of minuscule switches that make up silicon chips leak electricity when they're supposed to be shut off. To compensate, engineers have increased the current, driving up power consumption, decreasing battery life for portable devices and generating more heat.' AMD has also experimented with metal instead of silicon. By moving to metal AMD and Intel expect to reduce electricity leakage. More from AP via SeattlePI and the Miami Herald." Update: 11/05 15:25 GMT by T : Read on below for some information from Intel on why this is a good thing.
gManZboy writes "Following up on the Intel news that about using metal in chips -- here's an explanation from Shekhar Borkar (Intel Research Fellow) about why heat, power, and sub-threshold leakage, not transistor size, are the real challenges to Moore's law. Apparently, in order to make chips much faster, we're going to have to pump more electricity in then anything else in our houses -- and they'll soon be as hot as a nuclear reactor -- no, really."
Now how can you say that CPUs are based off of alien technology when Intel is making changes like this?
Its time to get the governemnt in here to stop intel from innovating!
First off, their chips will last a long time and poison thousands of people in the future...
Plus their employees are rich bastards and its not fair that they should get paid so well while we all have so little!
where's the government when we need them! Why aren't they shutting down intel????
(just being the typical slashdot poster if they expressed their politics when it came to techinical issues... alas, they seem to hold contradictory views without recognizing it.)
Yeah, and you guys panned the ipod too: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23
You are incorrect Asshopper.
The adjective "equal" is used a predicate nominative, and "created" is used as a linking verb.
Also correct but possibly a more obvious use would have been "All metals are not created to be equal"
I hope you are not a United States Citizen or you should definitely have recognized the phrase as an allusion to the phrase which is both in our Declaration of Independence and the famous speech given by former President Lincon at Gettysburgh.
Good luck with your future pedantic posts !
Im not here now... Im out KILLING pepperoni
Such bluntness and resistance to limp-wristed caution is an attribute to be emulated and admired.
Absolutely! He just got my vote! Maybe once in office, he can get the Pentagon to research diamond body-armor for our GIs in harm's way.