A 2 nm wafer was developed at IBM Research's Albany facility. There are hundreds of chips on this wafer. (Image Credit: IBM)
The semiconductor industry has been striving to produce smaller, faster, more powerful, and energy-efficient microchips for hybrid cloud, AI, and the Internet of Things. On May 6th, IBM announced it developed the world's smallest, most powerful 2-nanometer chip. These 2 nm chips could perform 45% better or consume 75% less energy than existing state-of-the-art 7 nm chips. Production starts in late 2024 or 2025, too far away to impact the global chip shortage.
Today's devices are powered with 10 nm or 7 nm chips, while some manufacturers develop 5 nm chips. Smaller sizes mean more powerful processors. IBM's newest chip consists of a 2 nm process technology, a huge step in the right direction for components powering smartphones, appliances, supercomputers, and transportation equipment.
Using more transistors on a chip makes them more reliable, smaller, faster, and more efficient. IBM's 2 nm chips contain 50 billion transistors. Each one is about the size of two DNA strands. Providing more transistors opens up opportunities for AI and encryption innovations that can be integrated onto chips.
Image of a 2 nm technology captured using transmission electron microscopy. (Image Credit: IBM)
The new technology means cell phone batteries last four times longer, laptops could see a significant speed boost, and data centers consume less power, resulting in a reduced carbon footprint. Furthermore, this allows self-driving cars to detect objects quickly. IBM also states that you would only need to charge your smartphone once every four days.
"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."
Apart from Intel or Samsung, IBM does not manufacture any chips. The computing giant plans on licensing its 2 nm processor to chipmakers. The breakthrough also allows IBM to create future devices with the 2 nm chips. This announcement arrives while the Biden administration is thinking about funding $50 billion to upgrade chip research, development, and manufacturing.
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