Armonk, NY (ip-192.com): The race to produce smaller and smaller microchips has led IBM to turn to one of the very building blocks of life for help with the process—DNA molecules.
IBM researchers, along with scientists at the California Institute of Technology, have discovered that the tiny components that run along a chip's silicone surface will self-adhere to previously laid out DNA patterns.
That makes DNA a perfect "scaffolding" that chip designers can use to create origami-like complex patterns on top of which they can add carbon nanotubes, nanowires, and other microscopic materials that control the flow of electronics across a computer chip.
"The cost involved in shrinking features to improve performance is a limiting factor in keeping pace with Moore's Law and a concern across the semiconductor industry," said Spike Narayan, Science & Technology manager at IBM's Almaden research lab in San Jose, CA.
"The combination of this directed self-assembly with today's fabrication technology could lead to substantial savings in the most expensive and challenging part of the chip-making process," so Narayan.
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