ARMONK, NY – IBM this week claimed to be first to apply a self-assembling nanotechnology to conventional chip manufacturing. The company expects to have the technology ready for wide-scale use by 2009.
 
The natural pattern-creating process that forms seashells, snowflakes and enamel on teeth reportedly has been harnessed to form trillions of holes to create insulating vacuums around the miles of nano-scale wires packed next to each other inside each computer chip.
 
The new technique to make airgaps by self-assembly skips the masking and light-etching process. Instead, IBM scientists discovered a mix of compounds they pour onto a silicon wafer with wired chip patterns before baking it.
 
Compounds assemble in a directed manner, creating trillions of uniform, nano-scale holes across an entire 300 mm wafer. These holes are just 20 nm in diameter, up to five times smaller than those using today’s lithography technique.
 
Researchers have proven electrical signals on the chips can flow 35% faster, or the chips can consume 15% less energy compared to advanced chips using conventional techniques.
 
The self-assembly process has been integrated with IBM's manufacturing line in East Fishkill, NY, and is expected to be fully incorporated in IBM’s manufacturing lines and used in chips in 2009. The chips will be used in IBM's server product lines and thereafter for chips IBM builds for other companies.