Over the past 15 years, alternative materials like graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been touted as potential solutions to the silicon scaling problems that have left existing microprocessors largely stuck between 3.5 – 5GHz. In both cases, research into the new materials has struggled to create products that could be commercialized. Neither has advanced to the point where they could be integrated into large scale manufacturing. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have recently announced a breakthrough, however — one that could lead, in the long term, to profitable solutions that incorporate carbon nanotubes in shipping products.
One of the critical problems facing carbon nanotubes is the difficulty of putting them precisely where they’re needed. In the past, manufacturers have achieved 88-94% precision. In 2013, we wrote about a new sorting method that could achieve 95-98% precision — still well below the estimated 99.96% precision the ITRS roadmaps at the time had estimated would be required for commercial manufacturing. Now, the University of Wisconsin has claimed it can achieve purity rates of up to 99.98%.