technology
IBM Builds Prototype Chip With Nearly 100 Billion Transistors but Commercial Use Remains Years Away
@NewScientist reported that IBM unveiled a 10 by 15 millimetre prototype containing almost 100 billion transistors. The chip uses three-dimensional stacking to achieve record density and is projected for commercial use within a decade.
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IBM has built a prototype chip measuring 10 millimetres by 15 millimetres that contains almost 100 billion transistors, nearly twice the count of the previous state-of-the-art design. @NewScientist reported that the chip relies on a three-dimensional stacking process that bonds two silicon layers while maintaining electrical connections and thermal performance.
The company states the prototype delivers 70 per cent higher energy efficiency and 50 per cent higher performance than current leading chips.
IBM refers to the technology as 0.7 nanometre, though the label functions as a marketing term rather than a literal transistor dimension. Development of the stacking method took 15 years, according to Huiming Bu at IBM. The approach extends the 2-nanometre chip IBM announced in 2021, a design now produced by multiple foundries and expected to appear in the next Apple iPhone.
Owen Guy at Swansea University noted that other manufacturers claim high transistor counts through stacked layers separated by thick substrate, which prevents the direct vertical connections IBM achieves. He said components in the latest chips are already as thin as 15 silicon atoms. Chips are fabricated in batches of hundreds on 300-millimetre wafers before being diced into individual dies.
Integrating the new second layer into existing high-volume manufacturing lines remains the principal technical hurdle before the technology can reach devices.
