Intel Corp yesterday unveiled a powerful new type of memory chip that promises to usher in a new era of more powerful computers by doubling a chip's memory capacity. The 64-megabit flash memory chip, which is no bigger than a fingernail, can store two bits of information on each transistor, essentially doubling the data storage capacity of each memory cell.

Intel, the world's largest maker of semiconductors, which has its European headquarters in Leixlip, Co Kildare, said it expected the chip to be used in a variety of electronic devices, including computers, cellular phones, digital voice recorders, larger capacity digital cameras and digital television's set-top boxes. The company also expects large demand for the chip in traditional applications, including network products such as local area network switches and in game development tools.

The breakthrough involves a type of chip called flash memory that can store information even when the computer is turned off.

Traditionally, semiconductor makers sought to make chips more efficient by shrinking the size of the transistors so more of them could be squeezed on to each chip. However, Intel's approach is to pack more information into each transistor, thereby making them more efficient and shattering a long-held principle in the technology industry called Moore's Law.

"Two bits in the space of one starts a new direction in memory technology," Mr Gordon Moore, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Intel, said in a statement. "This will lead to lower cost and new applications." Mr Moore enunciated Moore's Law more than 30 years ago, saying the power and complexity of the silicon chip would double every 18 months with proportionate decreases in cost.

Over the past nine years, Intel flash memory paralleled Moore's Law by increasing density from 256-kbits in 1988 to 32-megabits in 1997. However, by storing multiple bits of information in one memory cell, Intel said, it is moving beyond Moore's law.

"This breakthrough technology sets a new density level that allows Intel to be one chip generation ahead of the industry," said the company.