New Stacked Computer Chips Cut Costs

Any real estate speculator knows that stacking offices or apartments vertically beats horizontal sprawl when land prices are high.

In the microscopic world of computer chips, the same principle applies, and a Silicon Valley start-up called Matrix Semiconductor intends to make its mark with the idea.

Matrix Semiconductor -- founded by former employees of memory company Rambus Inc. RMBS.O and backed by such big names as Eastman Kodak Co. EK.N and Sony Corp. 6758.T -- said on Tuesday it had achieved the long-awaited goal of stacking many layers of active circuitry inside a single chip.

For decades, the idea of stacking chips has been seen as a way to dramatically cut the price of producing powerful chips, by packing more and more data storage and processing power into a smaller space.

Matrix, based in Santa Clara, California, will introduce a 64-megabyte memory chip, geared for the digital imaging and audio market, sometime next year using this process. The chip has eight layers of active components and can be produced with standard materials.

News source: Reuters