Was just pointed to this article on a 500GHz chip.
It’s a short and clear article. If it’s on the money, then these supa-nerds (used in a heroic sense) have jump ahead many lightyears.
I’d like to quote the whole article, but since it’s short, here’s just two bits.
At 500 gigahertz, the technology is 250 times faster than chips in today’s cellphones, which operate at 2 gigahertz. At room temperature, the chips operate at 350 gigahertz, far faster than other chips in commercial use today.
Second, for the prediction that is sad, but most probably true:
Mr. Olds cautioned, however, that the technology was far from finding its way into commercial products any time soon, considering the performance leap it represents. Today’s performance-hungry computer buyers, for example, are buying machines operating at about three gigahertz, he said.
Not sure how to take the actual article. Sounds like a quick jotting down of facts given to a reporter. I’d like to know more, investigate a bit more, ask some questions of the people.