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Nanotech in Microchips by 2015

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i'll-believe-it-when-it-boots dept.

dotwhynot writes "Molecular electronics, a realm once considered science fiction, could be heading for our computers and devices sooner than thought. A new report on the technology roadmap of the chip industry finds a growing confidence in new nanotechnology, and forecasts that the transition to the post-silicon era could happen by 2015. The development of nanoswitches has already reached a point where it will be possible to manufacture them reliably at low cost. Intels goal over the next decade is to build chips that hold more than one trillion switches."

3 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. This just in... by BigDork1001 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    ... flying cars by 1990! Also in 2001 we will be sending a mission to Jupiter with a space ship run by a super-intelligent computer.

    I'll believe it when I see it. These tech predictions rarely seem to happen when people think.

    --
    "Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
  2. Expect a transitional phase... by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The transition to new nanotechnology techniques could occur around 2015, when chip makers will have exhausted their ability to shrink the wires and switches

    Shrinking the wires can ALREADY be done with carbon nanotubes. Already some of them are being used for heat dissipation in audio chips.

    So, IMHO, it'll be more or less like this:

    1) Carbon nanotubes will replace copper wires in CPU's, disminishing the required operational voltage and current leakage.

    2) "Conventional" technologies used today (like multigate transistors) will be optimized for nanotube wires.

    3) The first nanotube transistors will appear a couple of years after 2) is developed.

    4) As this technology is improved, one day we'll be able to use spintronic or optical transistors.

    Somewhere in the middle of these, 3D-layered chips and massively-parallel computing will be developed. Oh yes, don't forget about the system-in-a-chip.

    A (redudant - read my past posts on the subject) glimpse into the future: In 20 or 30 years our computers will be smaller than a Nintendo gamecube. No floppy disks, just flash (or magnetic?) memory cards and solid-state HDs. PCI bus will be cast into oblivion, when the new add-on cards fit in a PS2 memory stick. Small future, indeed.

  3. I remember when by kevinx · · Score: 3, Insightful

    computers were so big, we'd call them desktops.