Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

IBM's Transistor Data Revealed

Posted by kdawson on from the spoiling-the-timing dept.

Atryn writes "After last week's story — Intel and IBM both announcing breakthroughs in chip design enabling continued adherence to Moore's Law — many folks wondered how and why the two companies' announcements came out simultaneously. The Register explains it, and as a bonus they are releasing a leaked copy of IBM's future research documentation (PDF)."

8 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. So..... by MatrixCubed · · Score: 3, Funny

    Do you work for Intel or IBM?

  2. Answer is clear by Lithdren · · Score: 5, Funny

    Intel developed a time travel device and sent a robot back in time to steal the plans from IBM.

    And they tried to kill Bill Gate's mother, but you'd be suprised how difficult that was.

    You'd think 640 rounds of ammo would be enough to kill anybody.

  3. Silicon Valley will become K-Valley then? by namityadav · · Score: 4, Informative

    From Intel: High-K Material is a material that can replace silicon dioxide as a gate dielectric. It has good insulating properties and also creates high capacitance (hence the term "high-k") between the gate and the channel. Both of these are desirable properties for high performance transistors. "k" (actually the Greek letter kappa) is an engineering term for the ability of a material to hold electric charge. Think of a sponge. It can hold a lot of water. Wood can hold some but not as much. Glass can't hold any at all. Similarly, some materials can store charge better than others, hence have a higher "k" value. Also, because high-k materials can be thicker than silicon dioxide, while retaining the same desirable properties, they greatly reduce leakage.

    1. Re:Silicon Valley will become K-Valley then? by exley · · Score: 3, Informative

      No. The substrate that these chips are fabbed on is still silicon. The article is somewhat misleading because it's the gate oxide, which is typically made of silicon dioxide, that's being replaced with the hafnium-based high-k material. I'm loathe to site this as a source but since it has pictures, here is a Wikipedia article that will show you the basic structure for anyone unfamiliar.

      I also find it interesting that they are using metal gates instead of polysilicon, considering that metal gates were used in the olden days before the switch to poly.

    2. Re:Silicon Valley will become K-Valley then? by Umbrel · · Score: 5, Informative

      The improvement is not about increased capacitance in each transistor channel, that would be bad. The capacitance is scpecifically increased in the gate, that means that the gates can be made thicker (less leakage currents = less power consumption) while keeping (or improving) the values for current and voltaje needed to be applied at the gate and the time for the transistor to switch.

      --
      Ave Maria
    3. Re:Silicon Valley will become K-Valley then? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Think of a sponge. It can hold a lot of water...Glass can't hold any at all.

      Try holding the glass right-side up.

  4. Why Adhere? by camperdave · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... enabling continued adherence to Moore's Law

    I don't understand why you would want to adhere to Moore's law. If I were able to make chips 10 times denser, why would I not market that right away rather than waiting for 3-5 years needed to follow the law.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  5. Re:Isn't it obvious? by ivan256 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It seems more likely to me that they're both announcing this "new technology" around now for a different reason.

    The first US patent to mention the use of a hafnium oxide as a dielectric expires later this year.