Darryl Bautista/IBM

IBM has unveiled a new ultra-dense chip design that is four times as powerful as the best silicon of today. The company has built a test processor of the chip, which is two generations more advanced than current technology.

The company has invested $3 billion (£1.9bn) in a private-public partnership alongside New York State, GlobalFoundries, Samsung and other equipment vendors with the aim of manufacturing the world's most advanced computer chips.


While still in the research and development phase, the news is significant as it suggests that worries about the pace of Moore's Law slowing may be unfounded.

Chips currently rely on 14 nanometre technology, which while small isn't small enough for future demands. Many researchers are already looking to the next two generations, which will shrink things down to 10 nanometres and eventually 7 nanometres.

It is this second generation that IBM has managed to demonstrate with its test processor, and it shows the future is bright for semiconductor innovation. It also suggests Moore's Law is safe for a few years yet.

IBM claimed it had only been possible to develop the technology by using silicon-germanium instead of the pure silicon it uses at the moment. The new materials make faster transistor switching possible and also require lower power, it said. Speaking to The New York Times the firm added that the minute size of such chips will require further advances in the development of new materials and new manufacturing techniques.

The company has not yet said when it aims to begin commercially manufacturing the technology, although a rival company -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, which has yet to produce any test chips -- has said it will begin production of 7 nanometre chips in 2017.