Reports of new materials beginning to move into the manufacturing pipeline should prepare us to seek new ways to leverage our interests in getting even more out of the new materials.
Here is a report of note:
IBM scientists successfully integrated the development and
application of new materials and logic architectures on 200mm (eight inch)
diameter wafers. These breakthroughs could potentially provide a new
technological basis for the convergence of computing, communication, and
consumer electronics.
Racetrack Memory
* Racetrack memory combines the benefits of magnetic hard drives and
solid-state memory to overcome challenges of growing memory demands and
shrinking devices.
* Proving this type of memory is feasible, today IBM researchers are
detailing the first Racetrack memory device integrated with CMOS
technology on 200mm wafers, culminating seven years of physics research.
* The researchers demonstrated both read and write functionality on an array
of 256 in-plane, magnetized horizontal racetracks. This development lays
the foundation for further improving Racetrack memory's density and
reliability using perpendicular magnetized racetracks and
three-dimensional architectures.
* This breakthrough could lead to a new type of data-centric computing that
allows massive amounts of stored information to be accessed in less than a
billionth of a second.
Graphene
* This first-ever CMOS-compatible graphene device can advance wireless
communications, and enable new, high frequency devices, which can operate
under adverse temperature and radiation conditions in areas such as
security and medical applications.
* The graphene integrated circuit, a frequency multiplier, is operational up
to 5 GHz and stable up to 200 degrees Celcius. While detailed thermal
stability still needs to be evaluated, these results are promising for
graphene circuits to be used in high temperature environments.
* New architecture flips the current graphene transistor structure on its
head. Instead of trying to deposit gate dielectric on an inert graphene
surface, the researchers developed a novel embedded gate structure that
enables high device yield on a 200mm wafer.
Carbon Nanotubes
* IBM researchers today demonstrated the first transistor with sub-10 nm
channel lengths, outperforming the best competing silicon-based devices at
these length scales.
* While already being considered in varied applications ranging from solar
cells to displays, it is expected that computers with in the next decade
will use transistors with a channel length below 10 nm, a length scale at
which conventional silicon technology will have extreme difficulty
performing even with new advanced device architectures. The scaled carbon
nanotube devices below 10nm gate length are a significant breakthrough for
future applications in computing technology.
* While often associated with improving switching speed (on-state), this
breakthrough demonstrates for the first time that carbon nanotubes can
provide excellent off-state behavior in extremely scaled devices-- better
than what some theoretical estimates of tunneling current suggested.
Here is a report of note:
IBM scientists successfully integrated the development and
application of new materials and logic architectures on 200mm (eight inch)
diameter wafers. These breakthroughs could potentially provide a new
technological basis for the convergence of computing, communication, and
consumer electronics.
Racetrack Memory
* Racetrack memory combines the benefits of magnetic hard drives and
solid-state memory to overcome challenges of growing memory demands and
shrinking devices.
* Proving this type of memory is feasible, today IBM researchers are
detailing the first Racetrack memory device integrated with CMOS
technology on 200mm wafers, culminating seven years of physics research.
* The researchers demonstrated both read and write functionality on an array
of 256 in-plane, magnetized horizontal racetracks. This development lays
the foundation for further improving Racetrack memory's density and
reliability using perpendicular magnetized racetracks and
three-dimensional architectures.
* This breakthrough could lead to a new type of data-centric computing that
allows massive amounts of stored information to be accessed in less than a
billionth of a second.
Graphene
* This first-ever CMOS-compatible graphene device can advance wireless
communications, and enable new, high frequency devices, which can operate
under adverse temperature and radiation conditions in areas such as
security and medical applications.
* The graphene integrated circuit, a frequency multiplier, is operational up
to 5 GHz and stable up to 200 degrees Celcius. While detailed thermal
stability still needs to be evaluated, these results are promising for
graphene circuits to be used in high temperature environments.
* New architecture flips the current graphene transistor structure on its
head. Instead of trying to deposit gate dielectric on an inert graphene
surface, the researchers developed a novel embedded gate structure that
enables high device yield on a 200mm wafer.
Carbon Nanotubes
* IBM researchers today demonstrated the first transistor with sub-10 nm
channel lengths, outperforming the best competing silicon-based devices at
these length scales.
* While already being considered in varied applications ranging from solar
cells to displays, it is expected that computers with in the next decade
will use transistors with a channel length below 10 nm, a length scale at
which conventional silicon technology will have extreme difficulty
performing even with new advanced device architectures. The scaled carbon
nanotube devices below 10nm gate length are a significant breakthrough for
future applications in computing technology.
* While often associated with improving switching speed (on-state), this
breakthrough demonstrates for the first time that carbon nanotubes can
provide excellent off-state behavior in extremely scaled devices-- better
than what some theoretical estimates of tunneling current suggested.
