In a move that could remake the microchip industry, Intel announced Wednesday it will start mass-producing the first three-dimensional silicon transistors. The 3-D transistor design, which Intel says will improve efficiency by more than one-third, will be integrated into a 22-nanometer node in an Intel chip called Ivy Bridge.
It’s a major change from the two-dimensional flat transistor structure we all know and love, which has powered every computer chip for the last 50 years. The 3-D switch design and the scale of its production will allow Moore’s Law to advance apace, Intel said.
Moore’s Law holds that the number of transistors that can be placed on a circuit will double every two years, but this places limits on the circuits’ size — a growing problem as engineers cram greater numbers of transistors onto ever-tinier chips. A 3-D switch could allow computer chips to be built like skyscrapers, optimizing space by building upward, and thereby allowing uninhibited transistor growth.
The Tri-Gate transistors consist of a thin 3-D silicon fin that arises vertically from the silicon substrate, Intel explains. Each fin has three gates, one on the top and one on each side, which allows for greater transistor current control. When it’s on, current flow is more efficient, and when the switches are off, the flow of electrons is closer to zero. By contrast, flat transistors have one gate, only on top.
All this leads to greater efficiency, allowing chips to operate at a lower voltage and with lower leakage — Intel claims a whopping 37 percent performance increase over its 2-D chips. Since the fins and their gates are vertical, more transistors can be packed close together. Eventually, designers will be able to make taller fins, aiming for even better performance.
“It will give product designers the flexibility to make current devices smarter and wholly new ones possible,” said Mark Bohr, a senior fellow at Intel.
More than 6 million 22-nm Tri-Gate transistors could fit inside the period at the end of this sentence, according to the company. (If you zoom in, who knows how many could fit!)
The new transistors will be integrated into Ivy Bridge-based Intel Core processors by the end of this year, which consumers will be able to get in 2012, Intel said.
Plenty of other chip designers have been talking about 3-D chips — just last month, we saw a 2-D reprogrammable one designed to behave as if it was a 3-D one. But Intel has taken it a step further by figuring out how to mass-produce them.
It’s technically 3-D because the switches are vertical and horizontal, but the transistors are not stacked, allowing electrons to flow in three dimensions — that’s a holy Grail of microprocessor design. But a new circuit design that allows more transistors on tinier spaces certainly sounds like a major breakthrough.
Intel imetoa taarifa ya kuanzisha uzalishaji wa wingi wa transistors za silicon tatu za 3D. Intel imesema kuwa transistor ya 3D itaboresha ufanisi wa kazi kwa zaidi ya theluthi moja na itaunganishwa katika kiungo cha nanometer 22 katika chip ya Intel inayoitwa Ivy Bridge. "Hiyo ni mabadiliko makubwa kutoka kwa muundo wa transistor ya gorofa ya pande mbili ambayo sisi sote tunajua na kupenda, ambayo imetoa nguvu kwa kila chip ya kompyuta kwa miaka 50 iliyopita. """ Ubunifu wa kubadili 3D na kiwango cha uzalishaji wake itaruhusu Sheria ya Moore kusonga mbele kwa kasi, Intel alisema. Sheria ya Moore inadai kwamba idadi ya transistors ambayo inaweza kuwekwa kwenye mzunguko itaongezeka mara mbili kila baada ya miaka miwili, lakini hii inaweka mipaka kwa ukubwa wa mzunguko - tatizo linalokua wakati wahandisi wanaweka idadi kubwa ya transistors kwenye chips ndogo zaidi. "Kufanya hivyo, ""kugeuka 3D"" inaweza kuruhusu chips kompyuta kuwa kujengwa kama skyscrapers, optimizing nafasi kwa kujenga juu, na hivyo kuruhusu uninhibited transistor ukuaji." Transistors Tri-Gate ni pamoja na nyembamba 3D silicon fin ambayo inatokana wima kutoka silicon substrate, Intel anaeleza. Kila fin ina milango mitatu, moja juu na moja kila upande, ambayo inaruhusu udhibiti mkubwa wa sasa wa transistor. Wakati ni juu, mtiririko wa sasa ni ufanisi zaidi, na wakati swichi ni mbali, mtiririko wa elektroni ni karibu na sifuri. Kwa kutofautisha, transistors gorofa kuwa na lango moja, tu juu. Hii inaongeza ufanisi wa kazi na inasaidia kuendesha chips kwa voltage ya chini na kuvuja kwa chini, na Intel inadai ongezeko la utendaji wa 37% juu ya chips zake za 2D. Kwa kuwa ncha na malango yao ni wima, transistors zaidi zinaweza kuunganishwa karibu. Hatimaye, wabuni wataweza kutengeneza manyoya marefu zaidi, wakikusudia kufanya kazi vizuri zaidi. "Itawapa wabunifu wa bidhaa kubadilika ili kufanya vifaa vya sasa kuwa na akili zaidi na vipya kabisa iwezekanavyo", alisema Mark Bohr, mwanachama mwandamizi wa Intel. Zaidi ya transistors milioni 6 za 22nm Tri-Gate zinaweza kuingizwa ndani ya kipindi cha mwisho wa sentensi hii, kulingana na kampuni. (Ikiwa unaongeza ukubwa, ni nani anayejua ni wangapi wangeweza kuingizwa!) Transistors mpya zitakuwa integrated katika Ivy Bridge msingi Intel Core processors mwishoni mwa mwaka huu, ambayo watumiaji itakuwa na uwezo wa kupata katika 2012, Intel alisema. Kwa mfano, chip ya 3D imeundwa kwa ajili ya matumizi ya watu wengi, lakini kwa sasa, chip ya 2D imeundwa kwa ajili ya matumizi ya watu wengi. Lakini Intel imechukua hatua zaidi kwa kujua jinsi ya kuzalisha kwa wingi. Ni kiufundi 3-D kwa sababu swichi ni wima na usawa, lakini transistors si stacked, kuruhusu elektroni mtiririko katika vipimo vitatu - kwamba ni Grail takatifu ya microprocessor kubuni. Lakini muundo mpya wa mzunguko ambao unaruhusu transistors zaidi kwenye nafasi ndogo hakika inaonekana kama mafanikio makubwa.