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IBM unveiled semiconductor technology Thursday that it says could deliver computer chips with 50 percent better performance while dramatically lowering power consumption. <\/p>\n
The technology developed by IBM isn’t ready for industrial use yet, but the Armonk, New York-based company said it “sees a path to production in as early as the next five years.” <\/p>\n
The breakthrough could mean a major leap forward as the industry races to cram more computing power into smaller devices even as worries grow over the tech industry’s huge energy needs. <\/p>\n
Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s leading chip manufacturer, has recently begun mass-producing “2-nanometer” chips, the current cutting edge of the industry. <\/p>\n
IBM’s new “0.7-nanometer” technology would represent a dramatic step beyond that. <\/p>\n
The nanometer, an atomic-scale unit of measurement, doesn’t refer to the literal size of chips or their components, but to how densely transistors — the tiny electronic switches that make up processors — can be packed together. <\/p>\n
The smaller the number, the more transistors can fit on a chip the size of a fingernail. <\/p>\n
IBM’s apparent breakthrough packs nearly 100 billion transistors onto a chip that size — nearly twice the density of the 2-nanometer chip. <\/p>\n
More transistors mean faster and more powerful computing and can help drive advances like faster smartphones and laptops, more efficient data centers, better self-driving cars, and more capable artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT. <\/p>\n
IBM’s new chip is projected to offer “up to 50 percent more performance, or 70 percent greater energy efficiency than IBM’s 2-nanometer node chips,” the company said. <\/p>\n
That’s considered a critical advantage as data centers worldwide grapple with artificial intelligence’s enormous power demands, with local communities expressing increasing worry over the consequences of the facilities.<\/p>\n
IBM’s breakthrough uses a new three-dimensional architecture called “nanostack,” which stacks transistor layers on top of each other rather than arranging them in a single layer. <\/p>\n
“IBM’s latest chip breakthrough marks a landmark moment in computing, pushing technology beyond the nanometer era to the scale of atoms,” said Jay Gambetta, director of IBM Research. <\/p>\n
“We’re not just making smaller transistors, we’re reinventing how chips are built to deliver dramatically more power and energy efficiency.” <\/p>\n
The technology also delivers a 40 percent improvement in SRAM memory chips — “something that we haven’t seen in decades,” said Huiming Bu, IBM’s vice president of semiconductors. <\/p>\n
SRAM chips act like a processor’s short-term memory and are a critical component in electronic devices from gaming consoles to laptops. <\/p>\n
IBM’s technology isn’t ready for mass production yet, with the company expecting to reach the manufacturing stage within five years. <\/p>\n
Producing such chips is a highly complex process requiring advanced manufacturing equipment, deep technical expertise and billions of dollars in investment. <\/p>\n
IBM doesn’t manufacture chips itself, instead licensing its designs to companies like Japan’s Rapidus, with which it is working to scale 2-nanometer production. <\/p>\n
TSMC is currently developing “1.4-nanometer” technology targeted for mass production around 2028.<\/p>\n