H.P. Says New Device Could Revolutionize Computer Chips
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Hewlett-Packard scientists on Thursday will report advances demonstrating significant progress in the design of a new class of diminutive switches capable of replacing transistors as computer chips shrink toward the atomic scale.
Context & Ripple Effects
H.P. had already put adaptable circuitry on the agenda with its 2007 circuitry research, while broader nano-electronics advances kept attention on devices beyond conventional transistor scaling. Intel’s 2007 emphasis on chips that ran faster while using less power made the performance-and-energy stakes explicit.
The reported switch design matters because it targets the component at the center of that scaling constraint. For H.P., it turns a long-running research theme into a potential alternative path for chip design rather than an incremental product refresh.
First-order effects
- H.P. gains a more concrete research position in post-transistor switching, giving its scientists a platform to test whether the devices can perform chip functions at far smaller scales.
- Chip designers confronting transistor miniaturization gain a candidate replacement device, but must evaluate it against the speed, power and manufacturability expectations set by silicon designs.
Second-order effects
- Intel and other established chip designers face added pressure to sustain the faster, lower-power trajectory described in its 2007 chip roadmap as alternative switching approaches draw research attention.
- Research investment shifts toward the surrounding circuit architectures and fabrication methods needed to make nontraditional switches useful in complete chips, not merely demonstrable in the lab.
Third-order effects
- If such switches can be integrated reliably, semiconductor progress would depend less exclusively on shrinking conventional transistors and more on changing the device technology itself.
- The industry’s innovation contest would broaden from process scaling to competing computing materials and circuit designs, favoring firms able to connect basic-device research with system-level chip engineering.
The trend: As transistor scaling approaches physical limits, chip innovation is increasingly pursuing new switching devices alongside improvements to conventional silicon designs.