International Business Machines Corporation on Monday said it created a silicon-based transistor that is 65% faster than current technology.
The transistor, a primary component in microchips, uses a modified design to run at speeds of 350 gigahertz, or billion cycles per second.
IBM said the new transistor, or electronic switch, will lead to faster communications chips and allow lower-power and lower-cost wireless-communications products.
Transistor speeds are determined by how quickly electrons pass through them, which depends upon the semiconductor material used to make the transistor and the distance electrons travel through it.
IBM, which makes transistors out of silicon and germanium, said it developed a technique to make the transistor thinner, shortening the path of electrical flow. IBM will present details of the technology in a paper at the International Electron Devices meeting in San Francisco next month. – Sapa-AP