IBM Eyes DNA For Micro Chip Development
Pastor Dale Morgan
IBM Eyes DNA For Micro Chip Development*
Molecules form origami-like patterns as base for nanowires and other
tiny components.
By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek
August 17, 2009 09:03 AM
The race to produce smaller and smaller microchips for everything from
automobile systems to mobile communications devices 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 down DNA
patterns.
That makes DNA an ideal "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.
Moore's Law holds that computing power at a given cost doubles every two
years. Gains in chip speeds over the past two decades have largely been
obtained by shrinking components. But with some parts now at microscopic
levels, engineers are having an increasingly difficult time building on
previous work.
Narayan said IBM and Caltech's breakthrough in DNA-based chip design
could help maintain Moore's Law well into the future.
"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," said Narayan.
IBM plans to publish a paper on the research in the September issue of
Nature Nanotechnology.
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