NEWS: Scientists Seek to Forge Diamond Computer Chip, page 1

Researchers are now looking at diamond computer chips to overcome the limitations of todays modern silicone chips. The new diamond Chips are able to resist the high operating temperatures that limit current silicone chips today, but researchers dont expect techonology to hit shelves anytime soon.

www.reuters.com
A conventional computer chip is a slab of silicon topped with millions of transistors -- tiny switches that provide the computing power as electricity passes through them.

That blitz of electricity produces heat, a scourge of chip designers that may halt progress in making faster silicon semiconductors after a decade or so.

"You can operate a diamond-based transistor at higher temperatures than you could a silicon-based transistor," said John Venables, an advisor at the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Even now, Venables does not expect home computers to carry stickers saying "diamond inside" any time soon. Instead, he sees diamond chips in specialized devices like satellites, which have difficulty disposing of heat in space.

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While diamond computer chips might be the way to go in the future this can only lead to a more expenisve Computer. With the need for computers by everyone I dont think it will ever become a mainstream computer chip used in all personal computers but more for business.

By the time they do have the chips ready I belive some other technology will have already surpassed the need for these.