Researchers from IBM and the Georgia Institute of Technology have successfully developed the world’s fastest processing chip, achieving speeds of up to 500 GHz in a chilling environment of -232.7 degrees Celsius.
This astounding speed of 500 GHz is considered “super impressive,” especially when the fastest commercial computers currently only reach nearly 4 GHz. This research project is part of an initiative to explore the ultimate speed limits of silicon-germanium (SiGe) processing chips.
The structure of the SiGe processing chip is similar to standard chips found in today’s computers, but it incorporates the rare element Germanium to achieve faster speeds and lower energy consumption. However, the addition of Germanium to Silicon significantly increases the cost of the chip, which is why SiGe chips are only found in a limited number of computers.
This chip can only reach its maximum speed of 500 GHz when the temperature is lowered to the extreme of -232.7 degrees Celsius; at normal room temperature, it can only achieve a maximum speed of 350 GHz, which translates to 350 billion computational cycles per second. Nonetheless, this still represents a remarkable speed compared to the fastest chips currently available, which only reach about 3.8 GHz.
Ted Williams, a scientist involved in the project, stated that SiGe chips will be prioritized for use in future aerospace and defense projects before being commercialized for civilian markets.
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