NEWS:Die-cast future for computer chips

From: J Corbally (icorb@indigo.ie)
Date: Wed Jun 19 2002 - 14:54:43 MDT


Not sure if this has been posted here today;

>http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2053000/2053539.stm

>A professor in the US says he has a way to maintain or even beat "Moore's
>Law" - the decades-old observation that computer chips double in speed
>every 18 months.

>Standard chip production involves printing a tiny intricate pattern of
>transistors and wiring on to a silicon wafer.
>The circuitry is then etched into the silicon and the printed image removed.

>Professor Chou's process, described in the scientific journal Nature,
>involves a simple mechanical printing of the features of the chip.
>A quartz die is pressed against the silicon, which is melted briefly by a
>laser.
>In our process there's no waste
>Stephen Chou
>Professor Chou says his invention can produce chip features 10 times
>narrower than current techniques.

James.....
"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and
crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures
to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid."
-Q, Star Trek:TNG episode 'Q Who'



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