Faster than a speeding data packet

IBM has smashed everyone's preconceptions of transistor speed, by unveiling what it calls - and no one's arguing - the world's fastest silicon transistor. The new chips are faster because they are thinner, and are made from a mix of silicon and

IBM has smashed everyone's preconceptions of transistor speed, by unveiling what it calls - and no one's arguing - the world's fastest silicon transistor. The new chips are faster because they are thinner, and are made from a mix of silicon and germanium. Other companies have been working on similar solutions, but using more exotic materials like gallium arsenide or indium phosphide.

IBM's particular blend of silicon and germanium is an excellent conductor of electricity, far better than pure silicon. In fact, the new transistor can run at up to 210GHz, and on a measly one milliamp of juice. To put that in perspective, that's 80 per cent faster and using half as much power.

The new transistors will likely first show up in networking chips shunting data around fibre-optic lines. Then we should see them migrate to cell phones and other small consumer electronics.
IBM