Moore's Law says that chipmakers can double the number of transistors on a silicon chip every 2 years, enabling the industry to shrink the size of computers as well as reduce cost while improving their performance. But what happens when traditional silicon transistors cannot be shrunk in size any longer?

With a recent breakthrough in making circuits with molecules, Hewlett-Packard hopes to change chip history. Researchers here have created devices called crossbar latches that can be used to perform calculations in microprocessors, the same function silicon transistors perform now. The one difference is that crossbar latches, which consist of a grid of microscopic wires linked by molecules at their intersections are far smaller and, potentially, far cheaper to make. HP has already shown how crossbar latches can be used in memory.

"This is the final piece of the puzzle for building a molecular computer," said Phil Kuekes, senior computer architect and primary inventor at HP's Quantum Science Research (QSR) unit. HP is so confident of its technology that it is aiming to get elements of crossbar technology incorporated into 32-nanometer chips, which will hit commercially in 2011 or 2012.

From www.news.com

Page(s)   1