Big Blue has developed an exotic material that "self-assembles" chips that can run a third faster and use 15 per cent less power.

The new process allows the wiring on a chip to be insulated with a vacuum which it claims is the "Holy Grail" of insulators. According to Reuters, the technique works by coating a silicon wafer with a layer of a special polymer that when baked.

This  naturally forms trillions of uniform tiny holes just 20 nanometers across.The patten is used to create the copper wiring on top of a chip and the insulating gaps that let electricity flow smoothly.

IBM says that the same process is used during the formation of snowflakes, tooth enamel and seashells.

More here.