News Intel's new process preserves Moore's Law

From NewScientist:

Intel, the world's biggest maker of computer chips, has achieved an average feature size of just 65 nanometres for its next generation chip. The memory cells produced are half the size of the most advanced manufacturing technology in use today.

If the chip is manufactured by 2005 as planned, it will ensure that the number of transistors engineers can cram into a given area will continue to double every two years.

This trend is known as Moore's Law, after Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, and has held for the last 30 years. But recently experts have suggested that the problems of current leakage and heat build-up, which increase as chips shrink, could finally break Moore's Law.

Getting around these problems has become the number one priority for chip makers. This is because smaller transistors mean speedier chips - electrons need not travel as far - and lower costs, as more transistors can be made from the same size of silicon wafer.

The new 65-nanometre technology points to the continued robustness of Moore's Law. "The 65-nm process will enable us to make better products at lower cost," says Sunlin Chou, senior vice president of Intel's Technology and Manufacturing Group.

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So, as you can see - Size does matter!