IBM was the first to introduce the 7nm chip.
As the famous computer company launched a new product, here are the most important things you need to know about IBM’s 7nm computer chips. The enterprise is now under the media’s attention because they were the first to introduce a tiny, yet functional and powerful silicon chip on the market.
The manufacturing of the silicon chip was made possible through a recent collaboration between IBM, Samsung, GobalFoundries and SUNY. The four companies have joined hands for one of the most daring initiative in the technological field.
Thanks to the new achievement that IBM has made, the standard size of the silicon chip has been significantly reduced. Silicon chips that were initially 10nm large could soon be reduced to just 7nm. The good news, however, is that the chips are functional and they could soon be used for the production of highly advanced technological devices.
In spite of the positive outcome that the chips have had during tests, IBM has further disclosed that the 7nm-wide chip will undergo a series of experiments and tests in the next two years. Scientists have praised IBM’s achievement because it is for the first time that such a tiny chip will be introduced on the market.
In addition, the chip is the first to be created out of silicon-germanium and the first to incorporate extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography in its production process. The silicon-germanium composition is much more powerful than the silicon material that was once used.
The incredibly small transistors could only be recreated with the help of the extreme lithography, which is why scientists have opted for this method, instead of others. IBM developers have also used a quadruple-patterning to properly arrange the transistors on the chip.
The company has stated that the size of the chip has been reduced by 50%, thus making commercial models a lot smaller. The regular size is of 14nm and scientists currently aspire to lower the size to 10nm.
A 7nm commercial model would definitely represent the beginning of a new era for silicon chips and for the additional products that may be created with their help.
Image source: arstechnica.net
Ryan Harris
