IBM investing $3bn in future semiconductor tech
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IBM is to invest $3billion over the next five years in two research and early stage development programmes designed to push the limits of chip technology. The first, aimed at 7nm and beyond silicon technology, will address the physical challenges facing semiconductor scaling. The second will look at developing technologies for the post silicon era.
The teams will comprise IBM Research scientists and engineers from the US and Europe. Amongst the areas of research will be carbon nanoelectronics, silicon photonics, new memory technologies and architectures that support quantum and cognitive computing.
"The question is not if we will introduce 7nm technology into manufacturing, but rather how, when and at what cost?" said John Kelly, senior vice president at IBM Research. "IBM engineers and scientists, along with our partners, are well suited for this challenge and are already working on the materials science and device engineering required to meet the demands of the emerging system requirements for cloud, big data, and cognitive systems. This new investment will ensure that we produce the necessary innovations to meet these challenges."
IBM says it holds more than 500 patents for technologies that will drive advancements at 7nm and beyond and says this portfolio will accelerate the invention and introduction into product development of highly differentiated computing systems for cloud, and big data analytics.
Technologies to be explored include quantum computing, neurosynaptic computing, silicon photonics, carbon nanotubes, III-V technologies, low power transistors and graphene.
In addition to researching new materials, IBM says new architectures and innovative device concepts will be required to manage such elements as power dissipation.
A potential solution is steep slope devices, which may operate at much lower voltage and thus dissipate significantly less power. IBM scientists are researching tunnel field effect transistors (TFETs), thought to reduce power consumption by 100 times compared to CMOS transistors.
"In the next 10 years, computing hardware systems will be fundamentally different as our scientists and engineers push the limits of semiconductor innovations to explore the post silicon future," said Tom Rosamilia, senior vice president, IBM Systems and Technology Group. "IBM R&D teams are creating breakthrough innovations that will fuel the next era of computing systems."
