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Engineers Find a Simple Yet Clever Way to Boost Chip Speeds

posted by CoolHand on Friday June 19 2015, @05:48PM   
from the resheathing-our-equipment dept.

AnonTechie writes:

A typical computer chip includes millions of transistors connected with an extensive network of copper wires. Although chip wires are unimaginably short and thin compared to household wires both have one thing in common: in each case the copper is wrapped within a protective sheath. For years a material called tantalum nitride has formed protective layer in chip wires.

Now Stanford-led experiments demonstrate that a different sheathing material, graphene, can help electrons scoot through tiny copper wires in chips more quickly.

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a strong yet thin lattice. Stanford electrical engineer H.-S. Philip Wong says this modest fix, using graphene to wrap wires, could allow transistors to exchange data faster than is currently possible. And the advantages of using graphene would become greater in the future as transistors continue to shrink.

"Researchers have made tremendous advances on all of the other components in chips but recently, there hasn't been much progress on improving the performance of the wires," he said.

http://phys.org/news/2015-06-simple-clever-boost-chip.html

[Source]: https://engineering.stanford.edu/news/stanford-engineers-find-simple-yet-clever-way-boost-chip-speeds

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Original Submission

• I don't consider this simple or clever I don't consider this simple or clever (Score: 5, Insightful) by Alfred on Friday June 19 2015, @06:37PM

  by Alfred (4006) on Friday June 19 2015, @06:37PM (#198353) Journal

  When it said simple and clever I expected it to be more simple and more clever. Maybe not something I could do in my garage but something that could be done with existing tech, not requiring a specialized laboratory. The level of clever here is one level above I painted my car a different color.
  
  Of course everything is obvious after it has been done. How many years until this is in an actual product?

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• Re:I don't consider this simple or clever Re:I don't consider this simple or clever (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 19 2015, @07:20PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 19 2015, @07:20PM (#198376)

  Agreed. The title is just clickbait. The editors could have easily written something like "Graphene-sheathed wires improve chip speeds" instead of wasting words in the title on a misleading vague description.

  Parent

  • Re:I don't consider this simple or clever Re:I don't consider this simple or clever (Score: 5, Funny) by jcross on Friday June 19 2015, @07:35PM

    by jcross (4009) on Friday June 19 2015, @07:35PM (#198386)

    Local engineers make computers run faster with this one weird trick!

    Parent

    • Re:I don't consider this simple or clever (Score: 2) by Mr Big in the Pants on Friday June 19 2015, @09:09PM

      by Mr Big in the Pants (4956) on Friday June 19 2015, @09:09PM (#198429)

      Except they have not made "computers" run faster. Until it is integrated into a production line this is just a theory.

      And that missing part will be anything but simple...

      Parent