Scientists: Copper computer chip is the start of a new era
September 23, 1997
Web posted at: 6:02 p.m. EDT (1802 GMT)
From Correspondent David George
ATLANTA (CNN) -- IBM's breakthrough announcement that it has
developed a copper chip promises not only faster, cheaper
computers, but chips that can run cooler and pack more
information into smaller, three-dimensional spaces.
Analysts say products ranging from cell phones to automobiles
will benefit immediately from 3-D chip technology. And for
scientists, the new chip is just the beginning.
"We'll get many researchers off into a new area, many more
new inventions and processes may be developed because of
this," said manufacturing technology expert Steven Danyluk.
Computer chips are the brains behind computers, and the
industry is abuzz at the prospect of microprocessors that can
work up to 40 percent faster -- and cost up to 30 percent
less -- than current aluminum chips.
But some scientists, like Danyluk, a professor at Georgia
Institute of Technology, say that to focus on computer speed
misses the point of the new development.
"I don't think it's the speed. At least in my view, the speed
is not the critical aspect of this announcement," Danyluk said.
More important is the new chip's ability to
save space and run cooler than aluminum counterparts, he said.
Scientists say that today's computer chips are like a single
card from a deck of cards. They're two-dimensional, each one
with its own integrated circuit on top.
With the new IBM technology, scientists say, they'll be able
to build chips out of stacks of circuits -- in effect putting
the card back in the deck.
"So now you can build up a three-dimensional structure as a
deck of cards, where the copper layers now would form
electrical interconnects on each card," Danyluk said. "And
you could get power in and get heat out."
And instead of going just straight through, as in a
two-dimensional chip, "you can go up and down," he said.
The new IBM chip is not just a breakthrough, scientists say
-- it's the start of a new era in microprocessor technology.