Chip companies entering their metal period | CNET News.com

Chip companies entering their metal period | CNET News.com: "For almost 40 years, chipmakers have been building transistor gates--the basic switch in a transistor--out of silicon. But Intel, IBM and Advanced Micro Devices now plan to introduce new materials for transistor gates that significantly cut power leakage while dramatically improving performance, company executives said this week in separate announcements."

After last years attempt at making more biodegradable chips with banana peals and apple skins, Intel and a number of other chip makers look into more traditional metal materials for the next chip technology.