IBM, Intel Use New Material for Small Processors

ARNnet.com.au on January 30, 2007

Both Intel and IBM say they will use a new material — high-k — to build more efficient transistors for microprocessors. The developments, if they come to fruition, will have a big impact on the future of convergence. The story says high-k is a better insulating material than silicon dioxide. This will reduce the amount of electrical leakage in the transistor. Such leakage is the limiting factor in how closely the transistors can be spaced and, ultimately, the power of the chip. Intel executives are quoted as saying that the new material will enable Moore's law to extend "well into the next decade." IBM partner AMD will use the new material in the transition from the current 65 nanometer architecture to 45 nm design.