Scientists are battling to surmount barriers in microchip advances; fearing end of Moore's Law, labs across globe try remarkable experiments; quantum dots, plastic paper

Article Abstract:

The unprecedented growth of the semiconductor industry faces a sure slowdown due to the eventual breakdown of Moore's Law. Moore's Law, named after Intel's co-founder Gordon Moore, refers to the accumulation of transistors on microchips, doubling the computing capabilities on a single chip the same size every 18 months. Moore's Law may reach its limits due to barriers imposed by quantum physics. The end of continued progress within the semiconductor industry is slated for 2010 by the US Semiconductor Industry Association and has prompted American companies to initiate new research projects. Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry is investing $30 million in research programs aimed at alternative technologies to replace semiconductors. Possible replacements to conventional technologies include Naoki Yokoyama's 'quantum dots,' Federico Faggin's 'neural nets,' Ananth Dodabalapur's plastic transistors, and Kazuyuki Hirao's computer system based on light and glass.

Semiconductor Devices, Research, Industrial research, Beliefs, opinions and attitudes, Corporate growth, Industry growth, Moore, Gordon E., Computer history, Research and Development, History of Computing

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Dependence on memory chips could hurt Japan's firms; semiconductor makers have failed to diversify, and now prices are falling

Article Abstract:

Japanese semiconductor manufacturers face mounting competitive pressure from the continued market gains of US chip vendors and increased memory chip productivity from firms in Taiwan and South Korea. Japanese semiconductor makers have concentrated primarily on the development and production of memory chips and have failed to diversify their product lines as a form of protection from changing market demands. Foreign chip vendors have increased their production of these same memory chips, and the surplus volume threatens to glut the entire Japanese market, driving profit margins even lower. Analysts do not agree about the significance of the latest downturn in memory-chip prices, but most project a decline in profitability that will culminate in a very poor 1997.

Microprocessor Chips, Production management, Japan, CPUs (Central processing units), Computer memory, Memory (Computers)

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