IBM Corp has beaten Japan Inc, at least by a few months to the serial production of 16M-bit memory chips, saying that it is now achieving double-digit yields – that is to say that more than 10% of the parts coming off its lines are good. It looks to begin volume production well before the end of the year so the parts may start turning up in at least one product line before 1991 is out. The 16M-bit chip uses design rules down to 0.5 micron, the Wall Street Journal reports. The new part is also fast, with an access time of 50nS against 65nS for the company’s flagship 4M part.
