IBM Research May Lead to Smaller Chips

IBM Corp. said its scientists made a breakthrough in transistor technology that could someday enable a new class of much smaller and faster computer chips.

IBM researchers said they built the first transistors out of carbon nanotubes--tiny cylindrical structures of carbon atoms that are some 50,000 times thinner than the diameter of a human hair.

Researchers already have found a way to form the nanotubes into transistors 500 times smaller than today’s silicon-based transistors, IBM said. But only now have they found a process that may allow them to be mass-produced.

“We can make good semiconductors out of carbon nanotubes,” said Tom Theis, director of physical sciences for IBM research.

“What our folks have been doing is trying to figure out ways to make these better and faster so that they can continue studying the properties and developing them,” he added. “Our multiyear goal here is to come to an understanding if these will be good enough to replace silicon in microelectronic devices.”

IBM researchers say they’ve found a process by which they can form batches of nanotube transistors, which are as small as 10 atoms across. Until now, nanotubes had to be positioned one at a time or by random chance, IBM said.

The achievement is seen as a step toward eventual mass production of computer chips using the technology--making it a contender as a possible replacement for silicon.

Scientists are looking for such new materials and processes for improving computer chips. Chip makers expect that within the next decade or two, silicon-based chips cannot be made any smaller.