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The two companies have signed a two-year research agreement in an effort to speed the development and manufacturing of 32nm and even 22nm technology.

According to the companies they "will use new methods that include the latest technologies to analyse semiconductor devices and structures in order to improve the characterisation and measurement of transistor variation - as well as to develop a better understanding of device physics."

Intel has already moved to 45nm production, and now looks to be racing the rest of the world to 32nm technology as its competitors continue to seek partnerships to offset the huge initial research costs.

IBM already has similar agreements in place with AMD, Samsung, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Infineon Technologies and Freescale Semiconductor.