Intel plans chip revolution with 1 trillion transistors

Intel gave a small glimpse of the future at a conference. In addition to the possibility of stackable magnetic memories, the focus was also on brand-new materials. We take a look at the technical plans of the chip manufacturer, which wants to build a gigantic semiconductor factory in Magdeburg in 2023.

Intel surprises at semiconductor conference

At the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), industry giants like Intel can’t be missing, of course. And the company had big things to announce. Among other things, it wants to achieve the goal of fitting 1 trillion transistors into just one chip by 2030. How this is to be realized technically was presented by Intel experts themselves in several lectures. These focused in particular on new materials and the possibility of stacking memory.

By using revised 2D and 3D materials and new electrical connections, the distances between the contact surfaces should now be even smaller. As a result, it should not only be possible to combine several chips into one overall chip. In addition, certain units such as caches should require less space on the chip in the future due to stacking.

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A glimpse into the future

Intel also wants to significantly improve the electrical properties of the transistors. Here, a special 2D material called molybdenum sulfide will be used. However, we as classic customers will not notice much of this – at least for the time being. Instead, this technology is intended to help quantum computers achieve a major leap in performance. But it will be several years before that happens. After all, the company is only just in the research phase. When they will start building the new chip technology is still written in the stars. What is certain is that Intel has big plans for the future. However, in view of the importance of chip production, manufacturers like the U.S. company should also make sure that they do not lose their lead or even fall behind.