Transistors at 20 Nanometers
in Size to Enable Billion-Transistor Microprocessors Later this Decade
11//06/2001 10:37:30
SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 11,
2001 - Intel Corporation researchers have demonstrated that there are no
fundamental barriers to extending Moore's Law for another decade by building
the world's fastest silicon transistors. These transistors -- featuring
structures just 20 nanometers (nm) in size -- will allow Intel to build
microprocessors containing a billion transistors, running at speeds approaching
20 gigahertz and operating at less than one volt in approximately 2007.
Intel Labs researchers disclosed
this advance yesterday in Kyoto, Japan at the 2001 Silicon Nanoelectronics
Workshop, a conference for semiconductor engineers and scientists.
"This research demonstrates
that Intel is already well into the nanotechnology realm using silicon,"
said Dr. Gerald Marcyk, director of the Components Research Lab in Intel's
Technology and Manufacturing Group. "Our transistor research shows that
we are able to extend Moore's Law scaling for at least another three generations
beyond our current technologies."
Many researchers have speculated
that nanotechnology would replace silicon in the future, but Intel's research
illustrates that silicon and nanotechnology are in fact complementary.
"We still have not found a fundamental
limit for making silicon transistors smaller," added Dr. Robert Chau, Intel
Fellow and director of transistor research, Intel Logic Technology Development.
"The pace of silicon development is accelerating, not decelerating."
The 20 nm transistors, developed
by researchers from Intel Labs, are 30 percent smaller and 25 percent faster
than the industry's current fastest transistors, also developed by Intel
researchers within the last year. (Note: A nanometer is one-billionth of
a meter). Smaller transistors are faster, and fast transistors are the key
building block for fast microprocessors, the brains of computers and countless
other smart devices. These transistors will be the basis of Intel's 45 nanometer
(0.045-micron) process generation, which the company plans to have in production
in approximately 2007.
These new transistors, which
act like switches controlling the flow of electrons inside a microchip,
turn on and off more than a trillion times per second.
Microprocessors created with
these transistors could complete close to a billion calculations in the
blink of an eye or finish four million calculations in the time it takes
a speeding bullet to travel one inch.
Intel researchers were able
to build these ultra-small transistors by continuing to aggressively reduce
their dimensions. The gate oxides used to build these transistors are just
three atomic layers thick. More than 100,000 of these gate oxide layers
would need to be stacked to achieve the thickness of a sheet of paper.
Also significant is that these
experimental transistors, while featuring capabilities that are generations
beyond the most advanced technologies used in manufacturing today, were
built using the same physical structure and materials used in today's computer
chips. Intel plans to use a different class of gate oxide material by the
time these transistors go into production.
Intel Labs, the research and
development arm of Intel, is comprised of more than 6,000 researchers and
scientists in labs around the world. The labs are structured in a "decentralized"
manner, with significant internal research capabilities complemented by
numerous external research programs with universities, government labs and
industry consortia. This structure is different from traditional, centralized
research labs, and allows Intel to tackle a broader range of research projects.
The labs are also closely aligned with Intel's business units, which help
Intel Labs develop technologies that address the needs of Intel's customers
and consumers alike.
