IBM has unveiled the world’s first 2nm chip technology that’s capable of achieving 45% higher performance – or 75% lower energy use – than today’s most advanced 7nm node chips.
This breakthrough ‘nanosheet’ technology has been heralded as a new frontier for semiconductors that dot everything from computing, to appliances, to communication devices, transportation systems, and critical infrastructure – not to forget IoT, the hybrid cloud and AI.
According to Darío Gil, Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research, the new 2nm chips offer several benefits such as quadrupling cell phone battery life (users could charge their devices every four days), and slashing the carbon footprint of data centers, which account for one percent of global energy use.
This apart, the new chips drastically speed up a laptop’s functions – ranging from quicker processing in applications, to assisting in language translation more easily, to faster internet access.
It could also contribute to faster object detection and reaction time in autonomous vehicles like self-driving cars.
The 2nm chip design demonstrates the advanced scaling of semiconductors using IBM’s nanosheet technology and this makes its architecture an industry first.
Developed less than four years after IBM announced its milestone 5 nm design, the new 2nm breakthrough allows for up to 50 billion transistors to be fitted onto a chip the size of a fingernail.
More transistors on a chip also means processor designers have more options to infuse core-level innovations to improve capabilities for leading edge workloads.
These include AI and cloud computing, as well as new pathways for hardware-enforced security and encryption.
Image and content: IBM Newsroom
