Intel will introduce, what it calls a revolutionary three-dimensional (3-D) transistor design, Tri-Gate into high-volume manufacturing at the 22-nanometre (nm) node in an Intel chip codenamed "Ivy Bridge."
A nanometre is one-billionth of a metre. The transistor is the microscopic building block of modern electronics.
Intel has said that it will be for the first time since the invention of silicon transistors over 50 years ago, that transistors using a 3-D structure will be put into high-volume manufacturing.
The two-dimensional planar transistor structure has been used in all computers, mobile phones and consumer electronics for decades now. The 3-D Tri-Gate transistors represent a fundamental departure from the old 2-D transistors.
Intel first revealed the new design in 2002.
Among the benefits of the new design are improved performance and energy efficiency.
The 3-D Tri-Gate transistors provide up to 37% performance improvement over planar transistors. The new transistors also consume less than half the power than the 2-D planar transistors do.
"The performance gains and power savings of Intel’s unique 3-D Tri-Gate transistors are like nothing we’ve seen before," said Intel senior fellow Mark Bohr.
"This milestone is going further than simply keeping up with Moore’s Law. The low-voltage and low-power benefits far exceed what we typically see from one process generation to the next. It will give product designers the flexibility to make current devices smarter and wholly new ones possible. We believe this breakthrough will extend Intel’s lead even further over the rest of the semiconductor industry."
"Intel’s scientists and engineers have once again reinvented the transistor, this time utilizing the third dimension," said Intel president and CEO Paul Otellini.
The 3-D Tri-Gate transistors will first feature in the Ivy Bridge-based Intel Core family processors, which are expected to be in production by the end of this year.
