September 29, 2011

Adhesive Lets 3-D Microchips Go Deep

IBM and 3M have come up with an adhesive that will allow them to stack up to 100 semiconductors onto a single microchip. Larry Greenemeier reports

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Makers of the microchips found in smartphones, tablets and other gadgets are figuring out something that urban planners learned a long time ago—when you can no longer build out, you need to build up.

Stacked integrated circuits are today's tech skyscrapers. They're vital as consumer electronics makers look to cram more processing power and memory into smaller devices. But just like any other skyscraper, these 3-D chips have to keep the power flowing from layer to layer without overheating.

IBM and 3M recently announced that they have a cool solution: a unique adhesive for packing the chip’s layers. This adhesive can efficiently conduct heat through the densely packed layers of semiconductors inside these chips. This packaging should also keep heat away from sensitive components like logic circuits.

The companies say their new adhesive will be able to tightly stack up to 100 logic, networking and memory semiconductors into a single chip. Which could deliver processing speeds of up to one-thousand times faster than today—and turn your next iPhone from a four-story walk-up to a luxury high-rise.

—Larry Greenemeier

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]

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