Two chips in one: Researchers combine microprocessor materials
September 17, 2009 | Source: PhysOrg.com
Conventional silicon provides the vast majority of the transistors, offering integration and scalability, while gallium nitride, a material with better performance, is used for the transistors that need to work faster.
Besides faster microprocessors, the technology could enable a new class of high-performance mixed-signal and digitally controlled RF circuits for use in a wide range of applications, hybrid chips that combine lasers and electronic components on a single chip, more efficient cell phone manufacturing, and energy-harvesting devices that can harness the pressure and vibrations from the environment to produce enough power to run the silicon components.