Computer giant Intel hopes to release a 20-gigahertz microprocessor in the next five to six years.
The current generation of PCs run on microprocessors of between 1Ghz and 2Ghz.
Intel spokesman Kevin Teixeira said the technological advance was not in the making of the chip itself, but in its "packaging".
A chip"s package delivers the power the chip needs and transfers all the information into and out of the chip to the computer"s motherboard.
Teixeira said new technology called "Bumpless Buildup Layer" (BBUL) packaging allowed chips to be made thinner and lighter, with better electrical performance.
Using BBUL, it is possible to tightly interconnect multiple chips inside the same small package, offering higher speed than chips with separate packaging.
With current chip making, the processor die is built separately from the package and later bonded to it with solder.
With BBUL technology, the package is built around the silicon, eliminating the need for tiny solder "bumps", which reduce the efficiency of chips.
The company is also investigating highspeed transistors and "extreme ultraviolet lithography", which would imprint as many as one billion transistors onto a single chip.