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stvwrd
Joined: 31 Mar 2005
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 Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:53 pm Post subject: |
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I read an article a few weeks ago dealing with Moore's Law being in conflict with the laws of physics, and quoting some experts as saying that to get any smaller they're going to have to change some methods/materials that have been in place all along.
I saw this thread and tried to find the article again, but I couldn't. I did find this one though:
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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Intel Corp. <INTC.O> and IBM <IBM.N> have announced one of the biggest advances in transistors in four decades, overcoming a frustrating obstacle by ensuring microchips can get even smaller and more powerful.
The breakthrough, achieved via separate research efforts and announced on Friday, involves using an exotic new material to make transistors -- the tiny switches that are the building blocks of microchips.
The technology involves a layer of material that regulates the flow of electricity through transistors.
"At the transistor level, we haven't changed the basic materials since the 1960s. So it's a real big breakthrough," said Dan Hutcheson, head of VLSI Research, an industry consultancy.
"Moore's Law was coming to a grinding halt," he added, referring to the industry maxim laid down by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore that the number of transistors on a chip doubles roughly every two years.
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Actually the article says some of the same stuff even though it paints a picture of Moore's Law continuing, while the first one I read took the perspective that there are more and more challenges to the law.
My overall impression is that maybe there has been a lag in the past year or so, but recent breakthroughs may precede smaller drives in the coming year to make up for it.
I don't really know that much about this stuff, and it looks like you've already found what you're looking for anyway.
Full article is here: http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2007-01-27T050056Z_01_N26325707_RTRUKOC_0_US-MICROCHIPS.xml |
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Demophobe
Joined: 17 May 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 1:44 am Post subject: |
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| Demophobe wrote: |
Moore's law is for CPUs. I'm pedantic.
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stvwrd
Joined: 31 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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Not to beat a dead horse, but:
http://news.com.com/Flash+forward/2009-1040_3-994240.html
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Is flash fried?
Flash memory--the chip technology used to store data and applications inside cell phones, industrial equipment and portable memory cards--is facing a growing crisis, say engineers, analysts and semiconductor executives. Although demand is strong, it will become increasingly difficult to shrink flash memory chips after 2005. |
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Still, it will take a strenuous engineering effort to meet the demands of Moore's Law. The guiding industry principle, thought up by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, holds that the number of transistors on a semiconductor can be doubled every two years.
So can flash memory chips keep up with this pace? A 65-nanometer chip manufacturing process due to launch in 2005 could allow companies to make a smaller version of a traditional flash chip, but it "is going to be very painful," said Ko-Min Chang, manager of memory devices in Motorola's semiconductor product sector. "From a physics point of view, whether it is manufacturable remains to be seen. Pretty soon the process technology will be squeezing the cell." |
Moore's Law is for Semiconductors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_device
After looking up "pedantic" in a dictionary, I hesitated to respond for a long time since this is territory I'm far from an expert in, but I stumbled upon the cnet article today. |
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