Nanotube process that could shrink, speed chips 可縮小、加速晶片的奈米管製程

◎陳成良

Researchers at MIT have found a way to grow the carbon nanotubes that manufacturers need to build smaller, faster computer chips.

麻省理工學院（ MIT）的研究人員已找出一個生成奈米碳管的方法，廠商需要用它製造更小、更快的電腦晶片。

As chipmakers like Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices inc. work endlessly to find ways to build smaller and smaller chips, they often run into a multitude of problems.

在英特爾及超微等晶片製造商不斷努力尋找方法以製造越來越小的晶片之際，它們經常遇到許多問題。

A key issue that must be resolved： dealing with the tiny copper wires that connect transistors in a processor. As the chips shrink in size, so do the wires, making it increasingly difficult for them to maintain the level of current needed to meet performance requirements.

必須解決的一個關鍵問題是：處理在處理器中連接電晶體的細小銅線。隨著晶片體積縮小，銅線也要跟著縮小，使得它們越來越難以維持符合效能需求的電流水準。

The MIT scientists used a combination of techniques to create a new process for using nanotubes. The techniques included vaporizing the metals tantalum and iron, which settle in layers on a silicon wafer. Then they placed the coated wafer at one end of a quartz tube, which was inserted into a furnace.

麻省理工學院的科學家結合多項科技，打造出一個使用奈米管的新製程，這些科技包括了將矽晶圓片膜層上的鉭與鐵金屬加以蒸發，然後把鍍膜的晶圓放置在石英管一端，石英管則放入火爐中。

The researchers also pump ethylene gas into the tube. The gas decomposes at high temperatures and the iron on the wafer catalyzed the formation of carbon nanotubes.

研究人員還將乙烯氣灌入管內。這種氣體在高溫中裂解，而晶圓上的鐵則催化了奈米碳管的形成。

新聞辭典

run into：片語，（使）陷入（困境、債務等）。例句： Never run into debt. （千萬不要陷入負債中。）

multitude：名詞，許多。例句：There are a multitude of reasons against it.（有許多反對理由。）

decompose：動詞，腐爛，（使）分解。例句：The meat begin to decompose after some time in the sun.（肉在太陽下放了一些時候開始腐敗。）