This allows designers to produce more compact component packages, shortens on-chip data paths by 1000 times, and allows up to 100 times as many pathways.

"This breakthrough is a result of more than a decade of pioneering research at IBM," said Lisa Su, vice president, semiconductor research and development center, IBM. "This allows us to move 3D chips from the 'lab to the fab' across a range of applications."

Early targets for the technology include wireless communications, Power CPUs and IBM's Blue Gene supercomputers.{moscomment}