Thermal Nanotape Promises Cooler, Healthier Chips 48
Blacklaw writes "A team of researchers comprised of members from the Semiconductor Research Corporation and Stanford University has developed a new thermal nanotape which it claims will lead to chips that run cooler and last longer. The thermal nanotape, constructed of binder materials surrounding carbon nanotubes, promises to lead to the creation of semiconductors — including CPUs and GPUs — that don't suffer from the rigors of frequent temperature changes, known as thermal cycling."
Re:another vapourware story (Score:4, Informative)
I recall some obscure articles and google ads about CNT products for sale. Unless you're a material engineer doing something very obscure work you're unlikely to have a use for it though.
Off the shelf at
http://www.kleancarbon.com/Single-Wall-Carbon-Nano-tubes.aspx [kleancarbon.com]
Kind of expensive.
Note that fullerenes form in natural soot. So its unlikely a typical fullerene is super dangerous.
One huge problem is fullerenes are a class of material, not one individual atom (err, well, they're mostly C) or molecule. You know how pissed off chemists were about that superman movie where he dissolved a computer using "acid" so a generation of the clueless masses grew up thinking there is an element or something called "acid" and all acids including citric will instantly vaporize steel, fiberglass, and silicon? Well the nano guys get that way about fullerenes and cancer. Could you theoretically micromachine a nanotube that is the exact same size and shape as an asbestos fiber and then inhale a bunch of them and die? Well, yeah if you intentionally tried really freaking hard, but why would you do something that stupid?
Kind of like blaming that new-fangled "metal" technology because people get hurt when tiny chemically propelled chunks of "metal" strike them in their heart, or when you make a hundred pound pile of U235 bad stuff happens, so I suggest we all live in fear of this "metal" technology and watch lots of scary TV.