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IBM Demonstrates High-k/Metal Gate Chips
Last summer we discussed twin announcements from Intel and IBM/AMD about a new chip manufacturing technology dubbed high-k/metal gate. Intel is using the tech to improve speed and power consumption in its 45-nm chips. IBM, along with its manufacturing partners, just demonstrated chips it says show that high-k/metal gate technology at 32 nm can result in performance gains up to 30% and power savings up to 50%, compared to 45-nm process. IBM plans to be manufacturing 32 nm parts by the end of 2009. (AMD is not using high-k/metal gate yet, but it has access to the technology by virtue of its agreements with IBM.)
But Germanium-Arsonide is a much-neglected technology that could do with more investment, as it should do much better than silicon.
Germanium-anything counts as a dead-end road, due to the vanishingly small amount of it available on this planet. For a few specialty parts here and there, it works great. Start using it on the same scale we currently use silicon, and we'll run out in under a year.