One way to quicken computer speed is to add a number of connections between parts on the chip. But due to the limitation of space on traditional plane circuit, it is impossible to enable chipmakers to make further breakthroughs in this regard. So, raising the height of the chip seems to be the only solution to the problem. Earlier, some scientists had tried to develop 3D chips by way of adding layers, but this method is not only time-consuming but also limiting the usage of chip.

The website of the Nature magazine reported on April 26 that Qiu Jianrong, a physicist with Shanghai Institute of Optics and Precision Machines, together with Japanese scientists, succeeded in making 3D chips by using a piece of glass. They first injected gold oxide into the glass at the proportion of 1: 10000. Then they used laser pulse to hit a point on the glass to decompose gold oxide. When heated to 550 degrees C., gold atom was condensed to a drip on the glass. These gold atoms can be formed into various structures, this is just like a newspaper photo formed by numerous tiny ink drops. The only difference is that a photo is a plane picture, while the structure in the glass is a 3D structure.

Using this technique, researchers have succeeded in forming a number of 3D images in the glass. For example, a 3D butterfly with a width of only 5 microns is composed of millions of ball-shaped gold atoms. The atom is only 7 nanometers in diameter, or one /10,000th of a human hair's diameter. If the glass is hit again by laser, the structure on the glass will be wiped out. Then the gold atoms can be rearranged as designed.

After these preliminary experiments, developing a workable computer chip will be the next goal for the researchers. They think glass containing more gold will be able to create more nodes on circuit.

(People's Daily April 29, 2004)