AMD is getting on the ball as they have finally announced their switch to the 90 nanometer manufacturing process and that they will be incorporating strained silicon into those same chips. The technology will go into all of their 90 nanometer chips and some of their .13 micron chips:
Advanced Micro Devices has begun to incorporate a form of strained silicon into its chips, a design twist that will let the company increase the performance of its processors.
The strained silicon is being incorporated into all of AMD's 90-nanometer chips, which the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company has just started shipping to PC makers. The technology also will be added to 130-nanometer chips that will be released this quarter, an AMD representative said Thursday. (The nanometer dimensions refer to average feature size on the chips. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.)
Strained silicon is a design technique in which silicon atoms are forcibly pulled apart from each other. With the atoms spaced out further from one other, electrons can move more rapidly, similar to how a hockey puck can zip faster across a rink than across a frozen lake. Faster electrons lead to better performance.
**Okay question is , why does a hockey puck travel faster across a rink than across a frozen lake?**
Advanced Micro Devices has begun to incorporate a form of strained silicon into its chips, a design twist that will let the company increase the performance of its processors.
The strained silicon is being incorporated into all of AMD's 90-nanometer chips, which the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company has just started shipping to PC makers. The technology also will be added to 130-nanometer chips that will be released this quarter, an AMD representative said Thursday. (The nanometer dimensions refer to average feature size on the chips. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.)
Strained silicon is a design technique in which silicon atoms are forcibly pulled apart from each other. With the atoms spaced out further from one other, electrons can move more rapidly, similar to how a hockey puck can zip faster across a rink than across a frozen lake. Faster electrons lead to better performance.
**Okay question is , why does a hockey puck travel faster across a rink than across a frozen lake?**
Facebook
Twitter