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Chip Advance Uses Nature's Patterning Process

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ARMONK, N.Y., May 4, 2007 -- The natural pattern-creating process that forms seashells, snowflakes and tooth enamel has been used to create uniform patterns of trillions of nanoscale holes in a microprocessor. The technique allows electric signals on conventionally manufactured computer chips to flow faster or use less energy, its creators said. IBM Fellow Dan Edelstein with an experimental version of the company's latest-generation microprocessor. The chip uses a vacuum to insulate the miles of wiring that connect its millions of transistors. The "airgaps" were created using a self-assembly technology that creates a...Read full article

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    Published: May 2007
    Glossary
    capacitance
    The ability of a conductor to store an electrical charge; its value is given in farads as the ratio of the stored charge on one conductor to the potential difference between it and a second conductor.
    chip
    1. A localized fracture at the end of a cleaved optical fiber or on a glass surface. 2. An integrated circuit.
    mask
    1. A framelike structure that serves to restrict the viewing area of the screen when placed before a television picture tube. 2. In photolithography, a photomask (or mask) is typically a patterned transparent plate or an opaque plate with patterned holes or transparencies that uses a laser light source to transfer and print the pattern by an etching process onto a substrate that is typically a silicon wafer used in integrated circuitry.
    nano
    An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other structures and particles on the nanometer scale. Nano-optics (also referred to as nanophotonics), for example, is the study of how light and light-matter interactions behave on the nanometer scale. See nanophotonics.
    photonics
    The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...
    polymer
    Polymers are large molecules composed of repeating structural units called monomers. These monomers are chemically bonded together to form long chains or networks, creating a macromolecular structure. The process of linking monomers together is known as polymerization. Polymers can be classified into several categories based on their structure, properties, and mode of synthesis. Some common types of polymers include: Synthetic polymers: These are human-made polymers produced through...
    airgapcapacitancechipCMOScomputer chipcopperEdelsteinetchholesIBMindustrialinsulatormaskmicroprocessornanonanoscaleNews & Featuresphotonicspolymersea shellsself-assemblysnowflakestooth enamelvacuumWafers

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