BBC Misunderstands Processor Technology Again
I wouldn’t normally bother with this as it’s just too easy but it’s not the first time I’ve seen the BBC misunderstand the technology of processors.
…Intel has replaced the gate dielectrics, previously made from silicon dioxide, with a material based on the metal hafnium.
Hafnium is a so-called high-K material, which refers to its dielectric constant, and has a greater ability to store electrical charge than silicon dioxide.
Between these two lines they seem to change their mind what they are taking about. Intel has replaced the gate dielectrics with a hafnium based material, hafnium dioxide. If, as they claim in the second line, they had used hafnium they would have made a useless processor. They tell us themselves that hafnium is a metal – it therefore cannot be a dielectric.
Sadly even Intel seem to make this mistake on their own site.
Intel has made a significant breakthrough in solving the chip power problem, identifying a new “high-k” (Hi-k) material called hafnium to replace the transistor’s silicon dioxide gate dielectric
But at least they get it right later on
“High-k” materials, such as hafnium dioxide (HfO2), zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) inherently have a dielectric constant or “k” above 3.9, the “k” of silicon dioxide.
I know this is pedantry to the extreme but it really isn’t that hard to grasp, is it?
