Podcasts · The Hardware Podcast with Fexingo: Chips, Devices, and Electronics Engineering Conversations
Why Chipmakers Are Turning to Diamond Substrates
· 7:54 · S2 E70
Episode Why Chipmakers Are Turning to Diamond Substrates
For decades, silicon has been the workhorse of chipmaking, but it's hitting a thermal wall. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore why chip designers are now experimenting with diamond substrates — a material that conducts heat five times better than copper. They look at how companies like Akashic Systems and Stanford researchers are fabricating thin-film diamond layers directly on CMOS wafers, potentially lowering operating temperatures by 20°C. The hosts break down the cost challenge, the scalability question, and why this isn't just a lab curiosity: a startup just raised $40 million to commercialize diamond wafers for AI accelerators. If current roadmaps hold, the first commercial chips with embedded diamond layers could tape out as soon as 2028.
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Transcript
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