CHIPS for EVERYTHING: Britain’S Opportunities in a Key Global Market FRONT COVER (See Paragraphs 4.5 and 4.6)
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HOUSE OF LORDS Select Committee on Science and Technology CHIPS FOR EVERYTHING: Britain’s opportunities in a key global market FRONT COVER (see paragraphs 4.5 and 4.6) 1 The first illustration shows a technician holding a 300 mm wafer of silicon on which several hundred chips will be fabricated. 2 The second is a Cirrus Logic chip incorporating an ARM920T core, enlarged from its actual size of about a centimetre square. Over 600 such chips — each containing tens of millions of transistors — could be fabricated on one 300 mm wafer. 3 The third is an electron micrograph showing the layered structure of a chip built up in the 20 or so stages of the fabrication process. Most obvious are three layers of metal interconnect, but field-effect transistors are visible at the lowest levels towards the bottom left corner. The image is highly magnified. 2002 technology allows the strips of metal interconnect to be no more than 200 nanometres wide, about one five-hundredth of the thickness of the paper on which this Report is printed. At the same magnification, the image of the whole 300 mm wafer would be nearly 4 kilometres across and that of the Cirrus/ARM920T chip would be about 125 metres across. 1 International SEMATECH: Austin, TX, 2001. © Semiconductor Industry Association, reproduced by permission. 2 © ARM Ltd UK and Cirrus Logic Inc USA, reproduced by permission. 3 Image (rights reserved) by courtesy of the Semiconductor Equipment Assessment, an EU-funded project, as published by European Semiconductor magazine. REAR COVER (see paragraph 4.15) A typical table from the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS), 2001 edition. (International SEMATECH: Austin, TX, 2001. © Semiconductor Industry Association, reproduced by permission.) HOUSE OF LORDS SESSION 2002–03 2nd REPORT SELECT COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CHIPS FOR EVERYTHING: Britain’s opportunities in a key global market REPORT Ordered to be printed 28 November 2002 PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS LONDON – THE STATIONERY OFFICE LIMITED £13.00 HL Paper 13–I HOUSE OF LORDS SELECT COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY RECENT REPORTS S Information about the House of Lords Select on Science and Technology Committee is available on www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/lords_s_t_select.cfm which also provides access to the texts of these and other Reports. S General information about the House of Lords and its other Select Committees may be found via www.parliament.uk/about_lords/about_lords.cfm S General Parliamentary information is on www.parliament.uk Session 1997–98 (selected reports) 3rd Report Clinical Academic Careers 5th Report Digital Images as Evidence 7th Report Resistance to Antibiotics and other Antimicrobial Agents (see also 3rd Report 2000–01) 9th Report Cannabis: the Scientific and Medical Evidence (see also 2nd Report 2000–01) Session 1998–99 1st Report Meeting with the Minister for Science 2nd Report Cannabis: Government Response (to 9th Report 1997–98)* 3rd Report Management of Nuclear Waste (see also 1st Report 2001–02) Session 1999–2000 1st Report Non–Food Crops 2nd Report Meeting with Health and Science Ministers 3rd Report Science and Society (see also 1st Report 2000–01) 4th Report Non–Food Crops: Government Response (to 1st Report 1999–2000) 5th Report Air Travel and Health 6th Report Complementary and Alternative Medicine Session 2000–2001 1st Report Science in Schools (follow up to Chapter 6 of 3rd Report 1999–2000 — see also 2nd Report 2001–02) 2nd Report Therapeutic Uses of Cannabis (follow up to 9th Report 1997–98) 3rd Report Resistance to Antibiotics (follow up to 7th Report 1997–98) 4th Report Human Genetic Databases Session 2001–02 1st Report Managing Radioactive Waste: the Government’s consultation (follow up to 3rd Report 1998–99) 2nd Report Science in Schools: Government Responses (to 1st Report 2000–01) 3rd Report What on Earth? 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CONTENTS Paragraph Page CHAPTER 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...........................................................................7 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1.1 7 Summary of the Report................................................................................... 1.6 8 Recommendations........................................................................................... 1.23 10 The new industry........................................................................................ 1.24(a) 10 Design and Architecture............................................................................. 1.24(b) 10 Microprocessor technologies...................................................................... 1.24(f) 11 Skill needs .................................................................................................. 1.24(i) 11 Assisting new ventures............................................................................... 1.24(j) 11 Interdisciplinary work ................................................................................ 1.24(l) 11 Promoting research..................................................................................... 1.24(n) 12 Keeping Parliament informed .................................................................... 1.25 12 CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND TO THE INQUIRY ........................................................13 The development of computing...................................................................... 2.1 13 Reasons for the Inquiry................................................................................... 2.6 13 The Sub–Committee ....................................................................................... 2.9 14 Call for evidence............................................................................................. 2.10 14 Evidence received........................................................................................... 2.11 15 This Report ..................................................................................................... 2.13 15 Abbreviations.................................................................................................. 2.14 15 CHAPTER 3: SETTING THE SCENE ..............................................................................16 Introduction .................................................................................................... 3.1 16 Computing over the years............................................................................... 3.2 16 Early computing......................................................................................... 3.2 16 Mechanical devices .................................................................................... 3.4 16 The arrival of electronics ........................................................................... 3.8 16 Transistors.................................................................................................. 3.12 17 Integrated circuits....................................................................................... 3.16 18 Microprocessors ......................................................................................... 3.17 18 Electronic computers ...................................................................................... 3.18 19 Hardware and software ............................................................................. 3.21 19 Elements of a computer.............................................................................. 3.25 19 Computing performance ................................................................................. 3.28 20 CHAPTER 4: CHIP TECHNOLOGIES.............................................................................22 Introduction .................................................................................................... 4.1 22 How a chip is made......................................................................................... 4.3 22 CMOS technology .......................................................................................... 4.9 23 Moore’s “Law” ............................................................................................... 4.10 23 The ITRS “roadmap”...................................................................................... 4.13 24 The limits to CMOS miniaturisation .............................................................. 4.17 25 Physical constraints.................................................................................... 4.18 25 Manufacturability .................................................................................. 4.18 25 Fundamental limits ................................................................................ 4.19 25 Financial constraints................................................................................... 4.24 26 CMOS at the limits ......................................................................................... 4.28 27 Alternative chip technologies ......................................................................... 4.31 28 Generic