What is Moore's Law?
Moore's Law states that the number of components on a single chip doubles every two years at minimal cost. Although it was not actual science, it was observation and extrapolation that had remained constant since 1965.
Main sockets
- Moore's Law states that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles approximately every two years with only a small increase in cost.
- In 1965, Gordon E. Moore, co-founder of Intel, made an observation that eventually became known as Moore's Law.
- Another principle of Moore's Law states that the growth of microprocessors is exponential.
Investopedia/Jules Garcia
Understanding Moore's Law
In 1965, Gordon E. Moore, co-founder of Intel Corporation (INTC), observed that the number of transistors in a minimum-cost integrated circuit had increased by a factor of two between 1960 and 1965. Using his observations, he predicted that the number of components on a single chip at the lowest cost would reach 65,000 by 1975. In 1975, he revised the prediction to indicate that the number of components on a single chip would double every two years.
Gordon Moore did not call his observation “Moore's Law,” nor did he set out to create a “law.” Moore made this statement based on observation of emerging trends in chip manufacturing at Fairchild Semiconductor. Eventually, Moore's vision became a well-known aphorism, “Moore's Law.” In a 1975 interview, he claimed that his friend Dr. Carver Mead of Caltech was responsible for the name.
In the decades following Gordon Moore's original observation, Moore's Law has guided the semiconductor industry in long-range planning and setting research and development goals. Moore's Law has been a driving force for the technological and social change, productivity, and economic growth that have been hallmarks of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
Moore's Law states that computers, the machines that run computers, and computing power, all become smaller, faster, and cheaper over time as processes become more efficient and components become smaller and faster.
Almost 60 years on and still going strong
More than 60 years later, we feel the lasting impact and benefits of Moore's Law in many ways.
computing
As the transistors in integrated circuits get smaller, computers get smaller and faster. Today, transistors can be microscopic structures printed on tiny sheets of carbon and silicon molecules. The huge number of transistors that can be printed on a small area makes computers more efficient and faster. The cost of high-powered computers has declined annually, partly due to lower labor costs and lower semiconductor prices.
electronics
Practically every aspect of high-tech society benefits from Moore's Law in action. Mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, won't work without microprocessors; Nor do video games, spreadsheets, accurate weather forecasts, and global positioning systems (GPS).
All sectors benefit
Furthermore, smaller, faster computers are improving transportation, health care, education, and energy production — to name just a few of the industries that have made progress due to the increasing power of computer chips.
The imminent end of Moore's Law
Some believe that the physical limits of Moore's Law should be reached sometime in the 2020s. The problems chipmakers face are rising costs to continue trying to meet industry standards created by Moore's Law, and the difficulty of cooling an increasing number of components in a small space. For example, if you keep reducing the ingredients, you can fit more into a one-inch square slice. The more that square inch increases, the hotter it gets and the harder it is to cool.
In a 2005 interview, Moore himself admitted that “…the fact that materials are made of atoms is the fundamental constraint and it's not that far off…We're pushing towards some fairly fundamental limits, so one of these days we're going to have to Stop making things smaller.”
Creating the impossible?
The fact that Moore's Law is approaching its natural end is perhaps most painful for chip manufacturers themselves; As these companies are burdened with the task of building more powerful chipsets, they face the reality of physical limitations. Even Intel is competing with itself and its industry to create what may not ultimately be possible.
In 2012, with its 22nm processor, Intel was able to boast of having the world's smallest and most advanced transistors in a mass-produced product. In 2014, Intel launched a smaller, more powerful 14nm chip; The company struggled to bring a 7nm chip to market, but finally, in 2024, the company began receiving parts for a school bus-sized machine that could create technology that “pushes Moore's Law forward.”
This machine, designed by ASML, is a high-quality UV lithography system that can print transistors as small as 2 nanometers.
For perspective, a nanometer is a billionth of a meter, which is smaller than the wavelength of visible light. The diameter of the atom ranges from about 0.1 to 0.5 nanometers.
Special considerations
The vision of an interconnected and infinitely possible future brings both challenges and benefits. Shrinking transistors have powered progress in computing for more than half a century, but engineers and scientists must soon find other ways to make computers more capable. Instead of physical operations, applications and programs may help improve the speed and efficiency of computers. Cloud computing, wireless communications, the Internet of Things (IoT), and quantum physics may play a role in the future of computer technology innovation.
Despite growing concerns about privacy and security, the benefits of smarter computing technology can help us stay healthy, secure, and productive in the long term.
What is Moore's Law?
In 1965, Gordon Moore hypothesized that approximately every two years, the number of transistors on microchips would double. This phenomenon, commonly referred to as Moore's Law, suggests that computational progress will become faster, smaller, and more efficient over time. Moore's Law is widely considered one of the defining theories of the 21st century, and it holds important implications for the future of technological progress – along with its potential limitations.
How did Moore's Law affect computing?
Moore's Law has directly affected the advancement of computing power by creating a goal that chip makers must achieve. In 1965, Moore predicted that there would be 65,000 transistors on each chip by 1975. In 2024, chipmakers could fit 50 billion transistors on a chip the size of a fingernail.
Is Moore's Law coming to an end?
According to some, Moore's Law will end sometime in the 2020s. If components continue to shrink, physical limits will be reached within this decade because transistors smaller than atoms are unlikely to be printed. There is only 1.5 nanometers of space left to print, depending on the element.
Bottom line
Moore's Law began as an observation made by Gordon Moore in 1965 that the number of components on a microchip seemed to be increasing by two every year. He predicted that by 1975, there would be 65,000 components in an integrated circuit. In 1975, he revised his observation and predicted that the number of components would double every two years. This prediction has remained fairly accurate for nearly 50 years, and in 2024, engineers and scientists are still trying to keep up; They have succeeded in printing transistors roughly the size of atoms.
