Ibm Advances Chip Technology Replaces Aluminum With Copper

IBM has developed a way to make computer chips with copper instead of the aluminum long used by manufacturers, a breakthrough that could cheapen he cost of many computers and speed up calculations.

Copper carries electrical signals faster but is harder to apply to the silicon surface of each chip, so aluminum has been the metal of choice since the microprocessor industry was born more than three decades ago.

International Business Machines Corp., the world’s largest computer company, said today it will start selling copper chips early next year.

IBM will include the copper in chips that are the tiny brains and storage bins of computers it sells as well as in chips it sells to other computer and electronics makers.

The copper carries signals between the millions of transistors packed into each thumbnail size surface.

The Armonk, N.Y., company said switching metals could speed up a microprocessor by up to 40 percent, resulting in computers that think faster and store more information. In addition, the new chips are up to 30 percent less expensive than aluminum versions. That’s partly because copper is slightly cheaper but mainly due to the simpler process and less expensive machinery needed to make the semiconductors.

The technology will enable chips to operate on less electricity, making them useful for laptop computers and other battery-operated electronics products.

IBM stock shot up more than 5 percent on the news as analysts predicted the advance could give the high-tech company an edge, at least temporarily, against other chip makers, such as No. 1 Intel Corp. IBM shares were up 4 to 103 at the end of the day on the New York Stock Exchange.

“I think it will change Intel’s plans. Intel will now realize they need to step on the accelerator and get to copper sooner,” said Drew Peck, an analyst at Cowen & Co. in Boston.

The advance stands out among recent announcements by chip makers to boost the performance of circuits that control the basic functions of computers and electronics devices. Last week, Intel unveiled a way to boost the storage capacity of “flash memory” chips, the circuitry that lets computers and other devices hold information when they’re turned off.

As efforts to squeeze more information on a chip clash with physical laws, manufacturers have been forced to come up with more and more creative methods.

“Aluminum wouldn’t have been able to carry enough electricity to keep up the pace. We just broke through one of the fundamental walls,” said John Kelly, a vice president in IBM’s chip division.

Because copper is tough to apply, IBM developed a special compound to put between the copper and the silicon base, Kelly said. In addition, IBM designed a new way to flatten the copper that permits the layering of many wires inside chips. IBM said its new manufacturing process enables it to make transistors more than 500 times thinner than human hair, or about 30 percent smaller than the circuitry now available.