Intel's 45nm SRAM

Today Intel announced that it has become the first company to reach an important milestone in the development of 45 nanometer (nm) logic technology. Intel has produced what are believed to be the first fully functional SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) chips using 45nm process technology, its next-generation, high-volume semiconductor manufacturing process. Achieving this milestone means Intel is on track to manufacture chips with this technology in 2007 using 300mm wafers, and continues the company's focus on pushing the limits of Moore's Law, by introducing a new process generation every two years.

Currently, Intel leads the industry in volume production of semiconductors using 65nm process technology. The 45nm SRAM chip has more than 1 billion transistors. It will provide the foundation for delivering PCs with improved performance-per-watt that will enhance the user experience. Intel's 45nm process technology will allow chips with more than five times less leakage power than those made today. This will improve battery life for mobile devices and increase opportunities for building smaller, more powerful platforms.

Intel said that this 45 nm SRAM chip is a key first step in the march toward high-volume manufacturing of the world's most complex devices. Intel also plans a low-power derivative of the 65-nm manufacturing process for handheld chips and chipsets. Additional information about this topic is available at www.intel.com/pressroom . You may also listen to a recorded interview with Intel senior fellow Mark Bohr by clicking the "Manufacturing" channel at http://intel.feedroom.com/.

Perpendicular Recording

On Monday Seagate Technology announced that it is shipping the Seagate Momentus 5400.3— the new 2.5-inch notebook PC drive featuring the addition of perpendicular recording for elevated levels of hard drive data density and capacity for notebook users. The Momentus 5400.3 offers up to 160GB of capacity and delivers 132 gigabits per square inch on the 5,400-rpm drive. Seagate also plans to apply perpendicular recording to its 7,200-rpm Momentus disk drives and to its smaller device 1-inch drives and desktop-oriented 3.5-inch products.

This is a radical departure from traditional longitudinal recording. The perpendicular recording places data bits on the end of the disk instead of flat to the surface without adding any extra requirement on power consumption or spin speed. This enables more bits to move under the drive head in the same amount of time and allows a boost in its performance by removing any extra workload on the drive. In this way by increasing the capacity to aerial disk speed without increasing the disk's component count, wear and tear on the drive is significantly lessened. This provides more safety against any kind of thermal decay.

This is very good news for Laptop users who can now carry more hard drive around without sweating too much.

Courses on Nanotechnology

Many of our visitors are college students and many of them are interested in pursuing a career in 'nanotechnology'. Today we provide a list of Universities in USA which offer courses on Nanotechnology. Click on these links and enjoy exploring what they are offering:

• Arizona State University http://www.eas.asu.edu/~nano/index.html


• Brown University http://en732c.engin.brown.edu


• California Institute of technology http://www.wag.caltech.edu/index.html


• Clemson University http://www.ces.clemson.edu/comset/research/nanotech.htm


• Cornell University http://www.nbtc.cornell.edu, http://www.cnf.cornell.edu


• Georgia Institute of Technology http://www.physics.gatech.edu/rersearch/whetten/ , http://www.physics.gatech.edu/research/whetten/, http://www.ee.gatech.edu/research/nanostructure_optoelectronics/


• Massachusetts Institute of Technology http://nanoweb.mit.edu/ , http://web.mit.edu/isn/


• Michigan State University http://www.nanotube.msu.edu/


• New York University http://www.nyu.edu/pages/chemistry/research/nano.html


• North Carolina State University http://www.ncsu.edu/chemistry/


• Pennsylvania State University http//www.nnin.org/nnin_psu.html


• Princeton University http://www.trnmag.com/Directory/Query_Results/, http://www.princeton.edu/~chouweb/


• Rice University http://cnst.rice.edu/


• Stanford University http://www-snf.stanford.edu/


• University of Albany http://www.albanynanotech.org/


• University of Cincinnati http://www.nanolab.uc.edu


• University of Delaware http://www.che.udel.edu/cmet, http://www.ece.udel.edu/cns


• University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign http://www.beckman.uiuc.edu , http://www.beckman.uiuc.edu/research/stm.html


• University of Michigan http://nano.med.umich.edu/


• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.physics.unc.edu/~zhou/muri/


• Nanoscale Science Research Group http://www.cs.unc.edu/Research/nano/


• University of Notre Dame http://www.nd.edu/~ndnano


• University of Southern California http://www-lmr.usc.edu/~lmr


• University of Wisconsin Madison http://uw.physics.wisc.edu/~himpsel/wires.html, http://mrsec.wisc.edu/


• University of Washington http://www.nano.washington.edu/index.asp