The capacity to increase processing speed propels this chip forward in terms of performance and energy efficiency
Semiconductors play critical roles in everything from computing to appliances, to communication devices, transportation systems and critical infrastructure. In the era of hybrid cloud, AI and IoT, the demand for increased chip performance and energy efficiency continues to rise.
To address this growing demand in the semiconductor industry, IBM has developed a breakthrough semiconductor chip with 2 nanometers (nm) nanosheet technology that can achieve 45 per cent higher performance, or 75 per cent lower energy use than conventional 7 nm node chips.
Potential benefits include:
- Quadrupled cell phone battery life – Users now only require to charge their devices every four days.
- Slashed data centre carbon footprint – Data centres account for one per cent of global energy use. By changing all of their servers to 2 nm-based processors, that percentage can be significantly reduced.
- Drastic speed up of laptop functionalities – Facilitates quick processing in applications, easy language translation and faster internet access.
- Faster object detection and reaction time in autonomous vehicles like self-driving cars.
Increased number of transistors per chip can make them smaller, faster, more reliable and more efficient. The 2 nm chip can fit up to 50 billion transistors on a chip the size of a fingernail.
More transistors on a chip also mean processor designers have more options to infuse core-level innovations to improve capabilities for edge workloads like AI and cloud computing, as well as new pathways for hardware-enforced security and encryption.
“The IBM innovation reflected in this new 2 nm chip is essential to the entire semiconductor and IT industry,” said Darío Gil, SVP and Director of IBM Research. “It is the product of IBM’s approach of taking on hard tech challenges and a demonstration of how breakthroughs can result from sustained investments and a collaborative R&D ecosystem approach.”
