IBM presented a new chip measuring 2 nanometers that would allow the American group to surpass a new frontier in semiconductor materials. These components play a key role in computing, communication devices, transportation systems and critical infrastructure.

A 2-nanometer chip that achieves a certain level of performance

IBM has unveiled technology to create 2-nanometer chips that contrast with most chips, which are 7 nanometers in size. According to the company, its creation could eventually achieve 45% higher performance than the most advanced 7nm chips. A 75% lower power consumption has also been claimed.

Still according to IBM, these2nm chips could :

• Quadruple the life of the mobile phone battery, requiring users to charge their devices only every four days.
• Reduce the carbon footprint of data centers, which account for 1% of global energy consumption. Replacing all their servers with 2nm-based processors could potentially reduce this number significantly.
• Dramatically accelerate the functions of a laptop, from faster application processing, to more intuitive language translation assistance, to faster Internet access.
• Contribute to faster object detection and reaction time in autonomous vehicles.

Darío Gil, director of IBM Research, said of the technology:

“The IBM innovation reflected in this new 2nm chip is critical to the entire semiconductor and information technology industry. It is the product that most closely matches IBM’s approach to addressing technology challenges and is a demonstration of how breakthroughs can occur if there is concrete investment and a collaborative approach by the R&D ecosystem.”

IBM aims to innovate in semiconductors through multiple collaborations

Semiconductor development efforts have coalesced at IBM’s research lab located in Albany, New York. There, IBM scientists have been working closely with public and private sector partners to push the limits of semiconductor capabilities. IBM’s goal is to create a leading ecosystem in this area of research to meet the ever-increasing demands for more efficient chips and processors.

The chip comprises more than 50 billion transistors, and according to the company, it could contribute to considerable technical advances in several fields such as artificial intelligence, but also render service to space exploration and 5G. For now, IBM has not mentioned the manufacturing and use of its technology on a large scale. Nevertheless, the brand has announced the commercialization, for this year, of these 7 nm processors in its Power Systems servers based on IBM POWER10.

Translated from IBM annonce une nouvelle puce gravée en 2 nanomètres visant de hautes performances