Intel Announces Chip Technology Breakthrough12 December 2005
News Release
Intel Announces Chip Technology Breakthrough
Using New Materials
New Material Could Help Chips Run
Cooler, Use Less Energy
Intel Corporation today announced
development of a new, ultra-fast, yet very low power
prototype transistor using new materials that could form the
basis of its microprocessors and other logic products
beginning in the second half of the next decade.
Intel and
QinetiQ researchers have jointly demonstrated an
enhancement-mode transistor using indium antimonide (InSb)
to conduct electrical current. Transistors control the flow
of information/electrical current inside a chip. The
prototype transistor is much faster and consumes less power
than previously announced transistors. Intel anticipates
using this new material to complement silicon, further
extending Moore’s Law.
Significant power reduction at the
transistor level, accompanied by a substantial performance
increase, could play a crucial role in delivering future
platforms to computer users by allowing an increased number
of features and capabilities. Considerably less energy used
and heat generated could add significant battery life for
mobile devices and increase opportunities for building
smaller more powerful products.
“The results of this
research reinforce our confidence in being able to continue
to follow Moore’s Law beyond 2015. As was the case with
other Intel technical advancements, we expect these new
materials will enhance the future of silicon-based
semiconductors,” said Ken David, director of components
research for Intel’s Technology and Manufacturing Group. “By
providing 50 percent more performance while reducing power
consumption by roughly 10 times, this new material will give
us considerable flexibility because we will have ability to
optimise for both performance and power of future
platforms.”
InSb is in a class of materials called III-V
compound semiconductors which are in use today for a variety
of discrete and small scale integrated devices such as
radio-frequency amplifiers, microwave devices and
semiconductor lasers.
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Researchers from Intel and QinetiQ
have previously announced transistors with InSb channels.
The prototype transistors being announced today, with a gate
length of 85nm, are the smallest ever, at less than half the
size of those disclosed earlier. This is the first time that
enhancement mode transistors have been demonstrated.
Enhancement mode transistors are the predominant type of
transistor used in microprocessors and other logic. These
transistors are able to operate at a reduced voltage, about
0.5 volts – roughly half of that for transistors in today’s
chips – which leads to chips with far less power
consumption.
“This research is a great example of how
QinetiQ, working with other world-leading companies such as
Intel, is targeting its research in technologies with
commercial potential,” said Tim Phillips, business manager
of the Fast Transistors group at QinetiQ.
Details will be
provided at the IEDM conference December 5-7, in Washington,
D.C., where the formal paper describing this advancement
will be delivered. The paper is titled “85nm Gate Length
Enhancement and Depletion mode InSb Quantum Well Transistors
for Ultra High Speed and Very Low Power Digital Logic
Applications.”
Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, is
also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and
communications products. Additional information about Intel
is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.
Intel is a
trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or
its subsidiaries in the United States and other
Source: scoop
All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
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