Breakthrough Promises Hotter, Tougher, Faster Chips

26 Aug, 2004 at 7:31pm ET Article published in Tech

Powerful processors that run hot, but need no cooling, and devices capable of withstanding extreme environments may be the result of new research.

Researchers led by Daisuke Nakamura of Toyota Central R&D Laboratories of Aichi, Japan, have described a way to build up wafers of silicon carbide, SiC, with a very low number of defects–an essential step in mass-producing electronic devices from the compound, the science journal Nature reported on Thursday. The researchers said it may be up to six years before the process is commercialized. The new process involves building up layers of SiC from a high-temperature gas, which allows the crystallization of the compound to happen only on the cleanest faces. By this method, the researchers said, wafers can be made with lower levels of defects–by factors of two to three times less.

Source: ZDNet

Comments

27 Aug 2004 ~ 12:49am entropy This might sound slightly offtopic, but it isn't. Why haven't we seen heatsinks (or any hot component (g/cpus) for that matter) made of/laced with artificial diamond? It isn't hard to manufacture. It transfers heat like you wouldn't believe. It's somewhat fragile, sure, but I've always wondered...
27 Aug 2004 ~ 5:54am RWB So then, my room will only get warmer?
27 Aug 2004 ~ 10:54pm drasnor

entropy wrote:

This might sound slightly offtopic, but it isn't. Why haven't we seen heatsinks (or any hot component (g/cpus) for that matter) made of/laced with artificial diamond? It isn't hard to manufacture. It transfers heat like you wouldn't believe. It's somewhat fragile, sure, but I've always wondered...

I'm going to give a shot at answering this but I'm really not a great expert. The process of making artificial diamond involves sublimating a hot gas (acetylene) onto the surface of a catalyst, but it doesn't grow in a controllable/predictable fashion. It's kind of like trying to paint your initials onto a 3x5 note card with a can of your favorite brand of over-the-counter spraypaint.

Check out this article about what IBM's been working on in the way of nano-scale research: http://www.eetimes.com/at/hpm/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18310384&kc=6380

20nm baby!

-drasnor
27 Aug 2004 ~ 11:17pm entropy Well, I have to say, most of that article went over my head But as for the artificial diamond ... we have a family friend who works in top secret stuff (no lie), and he showed us a slab of diamond, maybe the width of two pieces of paper, or like card stock maybe. I held it between my fingers. And sliced/melted through 6 inches or more of solid ice before it cold too cold to hold. THAT'S how good is tranfers heat. And I accidentally broke a corner, and he said, "Oh no big deal, it's nothing special" so it couldn't be terribly difficult to make. But idk. (oh, and you won't have any FBI dudes bust in on you tomorrow...if you do ... just, idk, say it's an inside joke or something )