Shanghai scientists integrate chip into fiber thinner than a human hair • Межа

Researchers at Fudan University in Shanghai have created a computer chip integrated into a flexible fiber that is thinner than the average human hair, Tom’s Hardware reports.

The Fiber Integrated Circuit (FIC) is capable of processing digital and analog signals at the level of “typical commercial arithmetic chips” and can be stretched, bent, twisted, and woven into fabrics.

The FIC architecture resembles a sushi roll: electronic elements are layered onto a flexible substrate and then tightly coiled into a spiral, forming a fiber with a diameter of about 50 micrometers. The integration density reaches 100,000 transistors per centimeter, or about 10 million per meter of fiber, which is comparable to the level of desktop processors of the late 1990s such as the Intel Pentium III or AMD K6-2.

Scientists claim that in tests, the fiber chip withstood more than 10,000 cycles of bending and abrasion, stretching up to 30%, twisting at an angle of 180° per centimeter, and being hit by a container truck weighing 15.6 tons.

​A team from Fudan University said it already has methods for mass-producing such fibers. Potential applications include brain-computer interfaces, VR devices and “smart” textiles. Thanks to its flexibility and miniaturization, FIC can be woven into fabric, creating, for example, VR gloves that look no different from regular gloves.

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