Chip maker Intel has taken the wraps off a new advancement in microprocessor design, using two new materials to built the insulating barriers and switching gates on its 45 nanometer transistors. The new designs will be incorporated into Intel’s next generation of Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, and Xeon processor families, where they’re expected to keep the famous Moore’s Law on track: that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles every two years. The new 45nm processors are being developed under the codename “Penryn,” and they’re expected to go into production in the second half of 2007.
