Intel announced a breakthrough technology in transistors this month, which will help the company continue making smaller, more powerful chips.
Intel’s new “Tri-Gate” transistors are three-dimensional instead of your standard two-dimensional transistors that can be found in computer chips today. Intel has therefore decided to bump up the number of switches, or gates, from one to three, allowing for more processing power in the same space.
Not only has Intel announced the new transistor, but they are also planning on releasing the technology as soon as possible. All future central processing units (CPUs), starting with the 22 nm Ivy Bridge Core processors, will be made with Tri-Gate transistors. Intel’s Atom series of processors are also expected to make use of the technology, driving their use in a wide range of applications. These processors end up in phones, vehicles, and even household appliances.
The Tri-Gate transistors help Intel maintain Moore’s Law, which says that the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles every two years. Where there would have been a flat 2D gate before, there is now a thin 3D silicon fin which rises vertically from the surface. These fins can be placed closer together than the old gates, allowing for more transistors per square unit and helping Intel reach their research targets.
The 3D transistors are designed to maximize performance and energy savings by pushing as much current as possible through when the transistor is on and as little as possible when the transistor is off. Intel’s also working on improving the switching speed of the transistors, which would greatly boost performance. Tests show that the 22 nm 3D transistors provide up to 37 percent more performance at lower voltage when compared to Intel’s 32 nm 2D transistors. In terms of power, the 3D transistors use under half the power of the 2D transistors.
Intel is hoping this helps provide more metaphorical ammunition against competitors such as AMD or ARM; the latter of which in particular now powers most of the smartphones and tablets sold around the world. This is all good news for consumers, as it encourages more competition and will result in speedier computers, phones, tablets and other devices that may make their way into our hands over the next few decades. It should be interesting to see if Intel makes more inroads into mobile devices with their new chip or if it fails to defend them from ARM’s attempts to get laptops and desktops shipping with ARM chips. Look out for these new 3D transistor CPUs at the end of this year or next year.
For a visual, detailed description of how the 3D transistors work in comparison with the 2D transistors, visit Intel’s video at http://youtu.be/YIkMaQJSyP8
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