Over the last few years, computer chips have found their way into almost every electronic device in the world. During that time they have become smaller, cheaper and more powerful, but, for some people, there is still plenty of scope to push back the limits of miniaturization.
The first generation of CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) chips were based on a design process with lithographic features defining regions inside the transistors of 10 micrometers or more. The chips in most products in use today have features more than a hundred times smaller – just 65 nanometers (nm) or 90nm, approximately 1,000 times less than the width of a human hair. That may be small, but in the competitive semiconductor industry, where size is of high importance, it is not small enough.
A reduction in minimum feature size means more transistors per chip, more transistors means more computing power, and more power means electronic systems such as mobile phones, PCs, satellites, vehicles, etc. – will gain in functionality and performance.
“The semiconductor industry is in the business of selling square millimeters of silicon. So, by cramming more transistors into a chip you’re delivering more capacity, more functionality and more computing power for the same price. It’s why things like mobile phones, LCD TVs and DVD players are coming down in price,”
N-ko-ra returns
Nishan Shanaka Korala Gamage
writes to
Spontaneous Combustion
from Sri lanka
