A US scientist has scored a top award for developing a new ruthenium-based technology that can extend the life of computer chips.

Dr Jeffry Kelber, regents professor of chemistry at the University of North Texas, has been given the Semiconductor Research Corporation inventor recognition award for his groundbreaking investigation into the vulnerabilities of semiconductors, reports the North Texas e-News.

The research focussed on the contamination that can occur in the precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, copper and ruthenium, which underpin computer chips.

When subjected to heat and air for prolonged periods these metals in the chips form oxide scales, which quickly begins to inhibit the performance of the semiconductors.

Dr Kelber's skill was in finding a way to prevent this oxidisation happening, by using a treatment of iodine atoms on a ruthenium surface.

Together with his research team he found that by counteracting the formation of oxide scales the chips could be better preserved.