How would you enforce it? I assume that most of my unsolicited telephone calls come from within the US, and are therefore subject to US laws. The callers could move outside the US, but the cost of making the phone calls would increase dramatically.
However, it's easy for spammers to move outside the US to avoid an unfavorable law, and doesn't really change their costs much.
According to the article, these nanocrystals are not made using a lithography process. Lithography is used to define a pattern in a thin film. This process involves heating a mixture of materials together to form the nanocrystals, which are then harvested from the mixture, so lithography doesn't come into play at all.
The problem is then to find some way to attach these nanocrystals to a chip to make them do something interesting. There is a lot of work being done on self-assembly of nanocrystals, and this is one application where that knowledge could really pay off.
OK, after looking at the interview again, the picture seems to show the gate length as 30nm, not the gate dielectric thickness as mentioned in the original article. Still, it doesn't seem as small as the Berkeley transistor.
The article on the Intel transistor seems to refer to a 30nm thickness (I assume they mean the gate dielectric). But when most people talk about the "size" of a transistor, they refer to the gate length. As far as I know, the 18nm gate length transistors developed at UC Berkeley (and discussed in this Slashdot article) are the "smallest."
Here's another glowing review of the movie from moviefanonline.com. They give it four out of four stars. The review also includes some pictures from the movie, if you're interested.
Electron beam lithography is nothing new, nor is IBM the only one developing it. In fact, there have been much smaller transistors made (such as the 18 nanometer transistor made here at UC-Berkeley using e-beam lithography).
The drawback to direct-write electron beam lithography is that you have to directly trace the circuit you are trying to print in most cases, while in optical lithography you can expose an entire die (or multiple die) at once. There have been improvements made over the years, using techniques such as parallel writing, but it's still slow. Even using a more conventional masked resist and scanning the beam across the wafer using vector or raster methods, there are problems with electron scattering and such.
This article is pretty short on technical content, so it may be that IBM has developed a way to make e-beam lithography fast enough to be used in a production environment for chips (it is already used for making photomasks). That would definitely be a significant development. We'll have to wait and see, I guess.
Also, keep in mind that just because they have a lithography tool that can write 80 nanometer lines does not mean that the rest of the processing equipment (etching, planarization, etc.) could support it. There would need to be advances in those tools as well.
My other question is, what do we do with tens of billions of transistors? If we jump three orders of magnitude in the number of transistors on a chip, is it really going to do us any good, at least with current circuit design techniques? I think testing a circuit like that would be a nightmare.
Most "cutting-edge" chips are fabricated in a.18 micron process, making them 10 times larger than this design, although.15 and.13 micron processes are coming online.
I think the US will probably be prepared for Y2K, by and large. However, I'm not so sure about other countries.
There are just so many details to consider. For example, at the hospital my dad works at, they have spent tons of time and money correcting potential problems with all sorts of medical equipment (X-Ray machines, heart monitors, etc.).
Do you think everyone else will take this seriously enough to prevent major problems? Perhaps some of our fellow Slashdotters from around the globe can comment on the situation in their countries.
I agree with some of the points in this article. One of the things I value about my relationship with my wife is that we have different interests. While she is interested in technology, she's not obsessed with it like I am sometimes. This is good, because she keeps me from getting too wrapped up in computers and such and pulls me back into the real world. She also encourages me to pursue other interests, such as the arts and outdoor activities, which are enjoyable activities that help us grow as a couple. I don't find that kind of fulfillment in a computer. On the other hand, I have to disagree with the concept that she should wait on me hand and foot, waiting patiently until I'm ready to pay attention to her. We share household tasks (cooking, cleaning, etc.) equally, and I wouldn't want it any other way. I want a lifetime companion, not a maid. While she may not always fully understand my excitement over that new laptop, she is happy for me, and wants to share in the excitement. But there are times when it's good to just leave the computer alone and do something fun (go to a play, go hiking, etc.) together, and those are the times that make me truly happy.
How can it be a "permanent" end to internet taxes? Congress could always just amend the bill again, or write another bill repealing it. But it does seem to be a step in the right direction. Now if it will just pass.
Micro-rockets with MEMS
on
Smart Dust
·
· Score: 2
Slashdot Mirror
How would you enforce it? I assume that most of my unsolicited telephone calls come from within the US, and are therefore subject to US laws.
The callers could move outside the US, but the cost of making the phone calls would increase dramatically.
However, it's easy for spammers to move outside the US to avoid an unfavorable law, and doesn't really change their costs much.
I thought true slashdotism (not reading the story) only happens to joe six packs, and no the editor..
You must be new here.
According to the article, these nanocrystals are not made using a lithography process. Lithography is used to define a pattern in a thin film. This process involves heating a mixture of materials together to form the nanocrystals, which are then harvested from the mixture, so lithography doesn't come into play at all.
The problem is then to find some way to attach these nanocrystals to a chip to make them do something interesting. There is a lot of work being done on self-assembly of nanocrystals, and this is one application where that knowledge could really pay off.
-Jason
OK, after looking at the interview again, the picture seems to show the gate length as 30nm, not the gate dielectric thickness as mentioned in the original article. Still, it doesn't seem as small as the Berkeley transistor.
-Jason
The article on the Intel transistor seems to refer to a 30nm thickness (I assume they mean the gate dielectric). But when most people talk about the "size" of a transistor, they refer to the gate length. As far as I know, the 18nm gate length transistors developed at UC Berkeley (and discussed in this Slashdot article) are the "smallest."
-Jason
Here's another glowing review of the movie from moviefanonline.com. They give it four out of four stars. The review also includes some pictures from the movie, if you're interested.
-Jason
Electron beam lithography is nothing new, nor is IBM the only one developing it. In fact, there have been much smaller transistors made (such as the 18 nanometer transistor made here at UC-Berkeley using e-beam lithography).
The drawback to direct-write electron beam lithography is that you have to directly trace the circuit you are trying to print in most cases, while in optical lithography you can expose an entire die (or multiple die) at once. There have been improvements made over the years, using techniques such as parallel writing, but it's still slow. Even using a more conventional masked resist and scanning the beam across the wafer using vector or raster methods, there are problems with electron scattering and such.
This article is pretty short on technical content, so it may be that IBM has developed a way to make e-beam lithography fast enough to be used in a production environment for chips (it is already used for making photomasks). That would definitely be a significant development. We'll have to wait and see, I guess.
Also, keep in mind that just because they have a lithography tool that can write 80 nanometer lines does not mean that the rest of the processing equipment (etching, planarization, etc.) could support it. There would need to be advances in those tools as well.
My other question is, what do we do with tens of billions of transistors? If we jump three orders of magnitude in the number of transistors on a chip, is it really going to do us any good, at least with current circuit design techniques? I think testing a circuit like that would be a nightmare.
-Jason
Most "cutting-edge" chips are fabricated in a .18 micron process, making them 10 times larger than this design, although .15 and .13 micron processes are coming online.
-Jason
I think the US will probably be prepared for Y2K, by and large. However, I'm not so sure about other countries.
There are just so many details to consider. For example, at the hospital my dad works at, they have spent tons of time and money correcting potential problems with all sorts of medical equipment (X-Ray machines, heart monitors, etc.).
Do you think everyone else will take this seriously enough to prevent major problems? Perhaps some of our fellow Slashdotters from around the globe can comment on the situation in their countries.
-Jason
I agree with some of the points in this article. One of the things I value about my relationship with my wife is that we have different interests. While she is interested in technology, she's not obsessed with it like I am sometimes. This is good, because she keeps me from getting too wrapped up in computers and such and pulls me back into the real world. She also encourages me to pursue other interests, such as the arts and outdoor activities, which are enjoyable activities that help us grow as a couple. I don't find that kind of fulfillment in a computer. On the other hand, I have to disagree with the concept that she should wait on me hand and foot, waiting patiently until I'm ready to pay attention to her. We share household tasks (cooking, cleaning, etc.) equally, and I wouldn't want it any other way. I want a lifetime companion, not a maid. While she may not always fully understand my excitement over that new laptop, she is happy for me, and wants to share in the excitement. But there are times when it's good to just leave the computer alone and do something fun (go to a play, go hiking, etc.) together, and those are the times that make me truly happy.
How can it be a "permanent" end to internet taxes? Congress could always just amend the bill again, or write another bill repealing it. But it does seem to be a step in the right direction. Now if it will just pass.
Here's some more cool MEMS research at Berkeley: Solid Fuel Microrockets.
They are suggested as a method for delivering Smart Dust. I think they just want to blow stuff up.
Jason
Looks like they're feeling the slashdot effect right now. Any mirrors?
I would love to see a remake of this movie using modern computer graphics technology. I still dream about having one of those badass light cycles...
Jason