Intel has announced a breakthrough in the evolution of the transistor  using a three-dimensional structure will be put into high-volume manufacturing.

Intel will introduce a 3D transistor design called Tri-Gate, first disclosed by Intel in 2002, into high-volume manufacturing at the 22nm node in an Intel chip codenamed Ivy Bridge.

The three-dimensional Tri-Gate transistors represent a fundamental departure from the two-dimensional planar transistor structure that has powered not only all computers, mobile phones and consumer electronics to-date, but also the electronic controls within cars, spacecraft, household appliances, medical devices and virtually thousands of other everyday devices for decades, said Intel.

Scientists have long recognized the benefits of a 3D structure for sustaining the pace of Moore's Law as device dimensions become so small that physical laws become barriers to advancement. The key to today's breakthrough is Intel's ability to deploy its novel 3D Tri-Gate transistor design into high-volume manufacturing, ushering in the next era of Moore's Law and opening the door to a new generation of innovations across a broad spectrum of devices.

Moore's Law is a forecast for the pace of silicon technology development that states that roughly every two years transistor density will double, while increasing functionality and performance and decreasing costs. It has become the basic business model for the semiconductor industry for more than 40 years.

Intel's 3D Tri-Gate transistors enable chips to operate at lower voltage with lower leakage, providing a combination of improved performance and energy efficiency compared to previous state-of-the-art transistors, Intel said. The capabilities give chip designers the flexibility to choose transistors targeted for low power or high performance, depending on the application.

The 22nm 3D Tri-Gate transistors provide up to 37% performance increase at low voltage versus Intel's 32nm planar transistors. This gain means that they are ideal for use in small handheld devices, which operate using less energy to switch back and forth. Alternatively, the new transistors consume less than half the power when at the same performance as 2D planar transistors on 32nm chips.

The 3D Tri-Gate transistor will be implemented in the company's upcoming 22nm node manufacturing process.

Intel has also demonstrated the world's first 22nm microprocessor, codenamed "Ivy Bridge," working in a notebook, server and desktop computer. Ivy Bridge-based Intel Core family processors will be the first high-volume chips to use 3D Tri-Gate transistors. Ivy Bridge is slated for high-volume production readiness by the end of 2011.

This silicon technology breakthrough will also aid in the delivery of more highly integrated Intel Atom processor-based products that scale the performance, functionality and software compatibility of Intel architecture while meeting the overall power, cost and size requirements for a range of market segment needs, said Intel.

By: DocMemory
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