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IBM to make speedy chips
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June 8, 2001: 7:17 a.m. ET
Big Blue stretches silicon in technical breakthrough that will speed chips
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - International Business Machines Corp. reported a breakthrough Friday in computer chip technology that will allow the world's largest computer maker to produce faster, less power-hungry chips.
Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM (IBM: Research, Estimates) said it has perfected a way to stretch silicon, the basic material used in semiconductor chips, that speeds the flow of electrons through the transistors on the chip.
Using the stretched silicon, IBM said, electrons experience less resistance and flow up to 70 percent faster -- leading to chips that are up to 35 percent faster, without having to shrink the size of transistors.
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VIDEO
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 CNNfn's Chris Huntington takes a look at IBM's new "Strained Silicon" chip and other significant developments in the computing industry. |
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IBM plans to present details of the breakthrough in technical papers to be presented at a symposium in Kyoto, Japan, on June 13.
Bijan Davari, vice president of semiconductor development at IBM Microelectronics, said the technology would be available for finished products by 2003. "That should give us at least a couple of years' lead over the rest of the industry," he told Reuters.
Davari added that the technology reduces power requirements as well as boosting the performance of the chip.
IBM in recent years has tried to move innovations from its research labs to market quickly, using them in its own computers as well as licensing the technology to rivals. These initiatives continue to be one of the company's most impressive assets, analysts say.
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"Microelectronics remains one of the best parts of IBM and, we think, has an opportunity to continue to grow by at least 20 percent going forward, driven primarily by new design wins," Goldman Sachs analyst Laura Conigliaro wrote in a note to clients.
The microelectronics division now comprises only 6 or 7 percent of IBM's total outside sales, Conigliaro said, adding that it shows promise of both high-revenue growth and improving profitability.
IBM stock, one of 30 in the Dow Jones industrial average, fell 25 cents to $117.25 Thursday.
-- Reuters contributed to this report 
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