IBM announces sub-1 nanometer chip technology

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, NY, June 25, 2026 – IBM has announced what it describes as the world’s first sub-1 nanometer chip technology, using a transistor architecture at the 0.7 nm, or 7 angstrom, node.

The company said the development is aimed at extending semiconductor scaling as the industry approaches the physical limits of traditional chip design. Semiconductors are used across computing, appliances, communications devices, transport systems, and critical infrastructure.

IBM said the new chip can contain nearly 100 billion transistors on a chip roughly the size of a fingernail. That would be close to twice the density of IBM’s 2 nm chip technology, which it announced in 2021.

The company said the advance is enabled by structural and material changes, including a three-dimensional nanostack architecture. IBM said published technical results project gains of up to 50% higher performance or 70% greater energy efficiency compared with its 2 nm node chips.

The technology could support future applications in generative AI, cloud infrastructure, and electronic devices, although commercial availability and manufacturing timelines were not stated in the announcement.