IBM has announced that it has manufactured the world's fastest semiconductor circuit, the crucial component in computer chips.
According to the company, it has created a circuit that can operate at speeds of 110 GigaHertz (GHz). Currently, High street PC chips work at around the 1.5 GHz level. The new chips use new materials, called "SiGe 8HP" which boosts the electrical properties of silicon, the base material of most computer chips, with the addition of germanium. IBM announced the technology in 1989, and has seen the materials used in cell phones and other simpler devices. "Many chip-makers are just starting to show they can build SiGe transistors, while we're into our fourth generation of the technology," said IBM researcher Bernard Meyerson in a statement. The company said the chips will appear on market shelves by the end of this year. Computer chip makers have been in a race to produce faster and faster chips in hopes of ending a worldwide slump in computer sales. AFP