INNOVATIONS

BUSINESS WEEK, May 15, 2000, Number 3681
EDITED BY CATHERINE ARNST

-- Researchers at Lucent Technologies Inc.'s Bell Labs have just found that
insulation to prevent short circuits in chips can be much thinner than
previously thought. A layer of silicon dioxide only six atoms thick can do
the job--not the nine-atom layer previously deemed necessary. Today's chips
are buffered by 12 atoms, so the old limit was going to be reached before
2005. Now, new insulating technology won't be needed until almost 2010.

Copyright (c) 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Received By NewsEDGE/LAN:Thu May 04 20:29:32 2000