Chip-Shrinking May Be Nearing Its Limits

December 15, 2007 By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer
Chip-Shrinking May Be Nearing Its Limits (AP)

Computer History Museum senior curator Dag Spicer looks at a replica of the first transistor at the museum in Mountain View, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007. The first transistor was built 60 years ago on Dec. 16, 1947. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

(AP) -- Sixty years after transistors were invented and nearly five decades since they were first integrated into silicon chips, the tiny on-off switches dubbed the "nerve cells" of the information age are starting to show their age.


Content from The Associated Press expires 15 days after original publication date. For more information about The Associated Press, please visit www.ap.org .

view popular send feedback to editors
4.2 /5 (49 votes)  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

guiding_light
Dec 15, 2007

Rank: 4.2 / 5 (5)
At IEDM this past week, Intel referenced its gate length to be 35 nm which is no change from the previous 65 nm generation. It was a bit surprising since they already introduced their high-k gate dielectric to reduce leakage, would have expected the Lg shrink to have continued.
Ragtime
Dec 15, 2007

Rank: 3.3 / 5 (6)
The computer chips are just 2D by now - so I can see here a lotta space for further integration, if they become layered or of more pronounced 3D surface morphology even without substantial changes of current technology.
wesgeorge
Dec 16, 2007

Rank: 2.8 / 5 (4)
Actually, Gordon Moore's original paper from which Moore's Law is derived, shows a graph defining transistor growth as doubling every 12 months, not TWO years. I suppose if you add the modifier "commercially viable" then closer to two years is cool. But that's not what the man originally said. The real pace has been more like 18 months.

ftp://download.in...icle.pdf
RAL
Dec 16, 2007

Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)
A well written story which balances predictions of slowed progress with caveats that such predictions have not been borne out in the past. This is the kind of rationale and considered approach to science and technology that we need.
out7x
Dec 19, 2007

Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
This article misstates heat to be something good. Heat is a problem.
Rank 4.2 /5 (49 votes)
Tags

more news
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon

(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...

Technology / Internet

created 2 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Walney offshore wind farm is world's biggest (for now)

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Walney wind farm on the Irish Sea--characterized by high tides, waves and windy weather--officially opened this week. The farm is treated in the press as a very big deal as the Walney ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created 22 hours ago | popularity 4 / 5 (11) | comments 33 | with audio podcast weblog

Love a click away in Indonesia's Twitter Republic

He was a geeky kid from Yogyakarta, she a glamorous city girl in Jakarta. In a country with one of the world's most vibrant social networking scenes they fell in love on Twitter.

Technology / Internet

created 3 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

GPS court ruling leaves US phone tracking unclear

A US Supreme Court decision requiring a warrant to place a GPS device on the car of a criminal suspect leaves unresolved the bigger issue of police tracking using mobile phones, legal experts say.

Technology / Telecom

created 23 hours ago | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Europeans protest controversial Internet pact

Tens of thousands of people marched in protests in more than a dozen European cities Saturday against a controversial anti-online piracy pact that critics say could curtail Internet freedom.

Technology / Internet

created 19 hours ago | popularity 4.6 / 5 (9) | comments 0


Latin America mining boom clashes with conservation

Latin America is experiencing a mining boom as prices rise fuelled by a hike in global demand, but the region is also being hit by a wave of violent protests, strikes and rallies by environmentalists.

Europe stakes billion-dollar bet on new rocket

A pencil-slim rocket is scheduled to lift into space from South America on Monday, carrying a billion-dollar bet that Europe can grab a juicy slice of the market to place satellites in low orbit.

Study finds that anti-diabetic medication can prevent the long-term effects of maternal obesity

In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, in Dallas, Texas, researchers will report findings that show that short therapy with the anti-diabetic medication ...

Netflix settlement trims 14 pct off 4Q earnings

(AP) -- Netflix pressed the rewind button on its fourth-quarter earnings after settling allegations that the video subscription service violated a consumer-privacy law.

Navy to begin tests on electromagnetic railgun prototype launcher

The Office of Naval Research (ONR)'s Electromagnetic (EM) Railgun program will take an important step forward in the coming weeks when the first industry railgun prototype launcher is tested at a facility ...

Explained: Sigma

It's a question that arises with virtually every major new finding in science or medicine: What makes a result reliable enough to be taken seriously? The answer has to do with statistical significance -- but ...