Intel's new 3D transistors to extend life of Moore's Law

[Flatty]

'Intel has announced that it is putting its revolutionary Tri-Gate 3-D transistor into mass production. The first 22nm microprocessor (codenamed Ivy Bridge) to use the transistors will be rolled-out later this year, delivering huge gains in performance and efficiency compared with chips that use current 2-D planar transistors and helping keep pace with Moore's Law.'

ivy-bridge-1.jpg

'While planar transistors form one conducting channel in the gate electrode, 3-D Tri-Gate transistors have a thin vertical fin structure which forms conducting channels on three sides and provides "fully depleted" operation, maximizing current flow when in the "on" state, bringing it as close to zero as possible when in the "off" state and switching between the two incredibly quickly. The 3-D transistors can also be connected together for higher performance and their vertical structure means that they can be squeezed tightly together on the chip. Intel says this translates to a performance increase of up to 37 percent at low voltage versus its 32nm planar transistors. It also means that when performing at the same level as their planar cousins, the Tri-Gate transistors consume less than half the power.'

...

'Intel says Ivy Bridge is slated for high-volume production readiness by the end of this year and will be introduced in the company's Core family processors at a server level before finding its way into into smaller handheld devices where its low power usage will be ideally suited.'

Sauce.

[veer477]

Interesting stuff. Thank you for sharing Flatty.