Mary-Louise Hoffman
IBM has unveiled a five-year, $3 billion investment to develop nanoscale chip technology as the company aims to improve the performance of cloud computing and big data systems.
A team of IBM researchers will aim to scale silicon chips to 7 nanometers or below as well as research carbon nanoelectronics, silicon photonics and other semiconductor materials that can be used for chip manufacturing, IBM said Thursday.
“IBM engineers and scientists, along with our partners, are well suited for this challenge and are already working on the materials science and device engineering required to meet the demands of the emerging system requirements for cloud, big data, and cognitive systems,” said John Kelly, IBM Research senior vice president.
“This new investment will ensure that we produce the necessary innovations to meet these challenges,” Kelly added.
The company has also invested in projects to demonstrate quantum and neurosynaptic computing systems, III-V technologies, low power transistors and graphene chips.
IBM backs private-public alliances and programs such as the Global Research Consortium of the Semiconductor Research Corporation, the NanoElectornics Research Initiative and the Semiconductor Advanced Research Network.
