IBM announced a $3 billion research initiative that aims to advance silicon technologies to the 7nm threshold or below. Over the next 5 years, IBM will conduct two broad research and early stage development programs.
The first is aimed at so-called “7 nanometer and beyond” silicon technology and the second is focused on developing alternative technologies for post-silicon era chips using entirely different approaches.
IBM said its research teams will be able to leverage work it already has underway in area such as carbon nanoelectronics, silicon photonics, new memory technologies, and architectures that support quantum and cognitive computing.
“The question is not if we will introduce 7 nanometer technology into manufacturing, but rather how, when, and at what cost?” said John Kelly, senior vice president, IBM Research. “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. This new investment will ensure that we produce the necessary innovations to meet these challenges.”
