Silicon Valley Strives to Solve Semiconductor Heat Issue
Diamonds Emerge as Potential Silicon Substitutes
Approach to Combine Diamonds with Carved Inert Silicon
Diamond Foundry Successfully Experiments with Nvidia Chips
Intel Steps Up Research on Alternatives Using Glass Substrates
Silicon Valley in the U.S. has long been striving to solve the heat issue of microchips. The overheating of semiconductors, due to the myriad functions and power they incorporate, limits the performance of computers and other devices.
The need for heat suppression has become more pressing with the surge in demand for semiconductors, especially with the rise of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). Engineers have been experimenting with various materials, ranging from synthetic diamonds to ultra-pure glass, and even unverified synthetic substances.
As a result, diamonds have emerged as the most promising silicon substitute. Diamonds are known to be the best heat conductors to humankind. However, diamonds have not yet been fully utilized in creating complete microchips. Hence, a secondary approach has been proposed, which involves carving most of the inert silicon within a regular microchip and then bonding it with diamonds.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), engineers at Diamond Foundry, based in Silicon Valley, recently manufactured the longest synthetic diamond in the world. The diamond wafer produced from this, with a width of 4 inches and a thickness of less than 0.12 inches, is expected to quickly eliminate heat generated from the silicon microchip and enhance performance when combined.
In fact, when Diamond Foundry combined diamonds with one of Nvidia’s advanced semiconductors in this manner, the CPU clock speed was found to be three times faster than before. Martin Roscheisen, CEO of Diamond Foundry, said, “We are in discussions with numerous defense companies, electric vehicle manufacturers, and semiconductor manufacturers to help microchips operate faster or be compressed into smaller volumes.”
The WSJ pointed out that a key factor making all this possible is the decline in the cost of synthesizing diamonds. According to Diamond Foundry, the price of diamond wafers has fallen to a level similar to that of silicon carbide (SiC) wafers, commonly used in electronic devices.
There are also cases where ultra-pure glass is utilized, not just semiconductors. Intel is currently working on mounting ultra-pure glass substrates on microchips as the size of semiconductors continues to grow. While glass does not significantly help suppress heat, it is praised for maintaining the stability of larger microchips. By combining with glass, various types of high-density wiring can be installed between semiconductors, allowing for fast communication between semiconductors without using much power. Intel plans to unveil microchips mounted on glass substrates by the second half of the 2020s.
The WSJ explained, “Scientists and engineers predict that these materials will completely replace the silicon in microchips in the distant future, and someday, microchips inside computers may be composed of a sandwich of glass and diamond wafers.”{vi33})
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