A new material can be used to better distribute the heat generation of processors by up to 150 percent. That’s what researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory claim in a paper. These are ultra-thin silicon-28 nanowires.

This isotope makes up about 92 percent of naturally occurring silicon, in addition to Si-29 and Si-30. Of these three, Si-28 is the best conductor of heat, with a conductivity approximately 10% higher than natural silicon. For this, it needs to be purified and then produced 90 nanometer-thick wires. Later it turned out that a profit of not less than 150 percent can be made here.

There are two reasons for this. The smoother surface means that phonons that carry heat are less likely to escape from the wire. In addition, a SiO2 layer is automatically created, which further enhances this effect. Phonons are quantum energy in vibrations that carry heat at high frequency and sound at low frequency.


The 99.92% pure Si-28 fraction used for the experiment.

These more conductive wires can be used in advanced transistors to better dissipate heat. There is currently a shortage of Si-28s for further testing. The samples used for this experiment came from a Soviet-era isotope factory. Despite the cost of purifying silicon, this relatively simple performance gain will be well worth it, as it becomes increasingly difficult to make processes smaller and more efficient.

Source: Tom’s Hardware

Source: Hardware Info

Previous articleMarvel announces a new game today: here’s the teaser
Next articleMartin Shkreli is released from prison, the most hated man in America is about to return to freedom

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here