Research history highlights

IBM scientists discovered a way to transport information on the atomic scale that uses the wave nature of electrons instead of conventional wiring. This new phenomenon, called the "quantum mirage" effect, may enable data transfer within future nanoscale electronic circuits too small to use wires. The quantum mirage technique is a fundamentally new way of guiding information through a solid and may prove to be a substitute for the wires connecting nanocircuit components.

IBM Research introduced a new family of experimental high-speed computer circuits that run at test speeds up to five times faster than today's top chips. The new circuits use an innovative design -- called "Interlocked Pipelined CMOS" -- to reach speeds of 3.3 - 4.5 billion cycles per second using conventional silicon transistors, while dramatically reducing power consumption. IBM researchers estimate that chips made with IPCMOS circuits would require only half the power used by a standard high-performance chip.

A team of scientists from IBM discovered chemical reactions that cause tiny magnetic particles, each uniformly containing only a few thousand atoms, to self-assemble -- or automatically arrange themselves -- into well-ordered arrays with each particle separated from its neighbors by the same preset distance. These "self-assembling" magnetic materials permit precise control of both the size of the nanoparticles and their separation distance, factors that are important in increasing data density.

In conjunction with the University of Basel, IBM has found a new approach for using tiny biochemical "machines" made of silicon to detect defects in DNA, which could eventually lead to new medical treatments. In this new biomechanical phenomenon, the researchers discovered that DNA bends tiny silicon "fingers" (or cantilevers) that have a thickness of less than 1/50 of a human hair. Using a process called molecular recognition, researchers discovered that by observing the way different cantilevers bent as the DNA adhered to them, they were able to detect the tiniest possible defect in a DNA sequence.

Another breakthrough is a technology that doubles the memory capacity of computer servers and could save ISP's and other large technology installations millions of dollars. IBM Memory eXpansion Technology (MXT) is a hardware implementation that automatically stores frequently accessed data and instructions close to a computer's microprocessors so they can be accessed immediately - - significantly improving performance. Less frequently accessed data and instructions are compressed and stored in memory instead of on a disk - - increasing memory capacity by a factor of two or more. The new technology is seamless to the end-user because the compressed data can be uncompressed in nanoseconds when needed.

IBM delivered the world's most powerful computer to the Energy Department -- ASCI White -- which is powerful enough to process an Internet transaction for every person on Earth in less than a minute. IBM built the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative - White, or ASCI White supercomputer for the U.S. Energy Department, so it can accurately test the safety and effectiveness of the nation's aging nuclear weapons stockpile. The ASCI White is three times more powerful than the previous champ, IBM's ASCI Blue Pacific, and 1,000 times more powerful than "Deep Blue," the computer which defeated world chess champion Gary Kasparov in 1997.

IBM began shipping the world's clearest computer display -- 12-times sharper than current displays and 10 years sooner than industry experts said it was possible. The U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is the first customer to use the world's highest-resolution computer display. With 200 pixels per inch and more than 9 million pixels in total on its 22-inch screen, the new display is as clear as an original photograph and 4.5-times sharper than top-of-the-line high-definition television screens. Applications for this technology are wide-ranging, including telemedicine, weather forecasting, publishing and graphic design, product development, satellite mapping and more.

An cryptography breakthrough enables software encryption and authentication to perform simultaneously, which is twice as fast as today's methods. This unnamed security algorithm encrypts and authenticates messages simultaneously with the same secret key, or mathematical code, that it uses to encrypt and decrypt. Previous approaches to ensure secure communications required performing encryption and authentication in separate steps. By combining the two steps, this security algorithm will help accelerate e-business.

A revolutionary memory technology was announced by IBM and Infineon Technologies. The technology is expected to significantly increase the battery life of portable computing devices and lead to "instant-on" computers. The two companies are collaborating on the development of Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM), which uses magnetic, rather than electronic, charges to store bits of data. MRAM can store more information, accessing it faster and using less battery power than the electronic memory used today.

Flexible transistors were announced, combining organic and inorganic materials as a medium for semiconductors. This technology will enable things like an "electronic newspaper", so lightweight and inexpensive that leaving one behind on the airplane or in a hotel lobby is no big deal. By getting away from the limitations posed by etching computer circuits in silicon -- a rigid, inorganic material -- the process makes it possible to create a new generation of inexpensive computer displays that are flexible and can be embedded into curved plastic or other materials.

IBM researchers are successfully running Linux and X11 (a popular graphics library) on a wrist watch-size device, demonstrating the viability of the operating system across all platforms, from large enterprise servers, to medium-sized and small servers, workstations, desktop systems, laptops and now the smallest intelligent devices. Designed to communicate wirelessly with PCs, cell phones and other wireless-enabled devices, the Linux Watch will have the ability to view condensed email messages and directly receive pager-like messages. In addition, the watch will provide users with calendar, address book and to-do list functions.