To take chip designs to the next level, IBM and Samsung are researching how to build semiconductor transistors vertically to free up more space on the silicon.
The research has led the companies to create VTFET, a new kind of transistor that can be more densely packed onto a computer chip compared to a FinFET transistor.
“At these advanced nodes, VTFET could be used to provide two times the performance or up to 85% reduction in energy use compared to the scaled finFET alternative,” IBM said in an announcement on Tuesday.
The idea to build out transistors vertically is nothing new. This past weekend, Intel announced its own research efforts on stacking transistor parts on top of each other to reduce their footprint.
However, the research from IBM and Samsung has advanced to the point that the VTFET transistors can be manufactured on test chips. The same transistors might also help sustain Moore’s Law, the observation that the number of transistors on new computer chips doubles about every two years.
VTFET stands for Vertical-Transport Nanosheet Field Effect Transistor, and it works by laying the transistor parts perpendicular to the silicon wafer. In contrast, a FinFET transistor will arrange certain parts laterally, which can take up more space. “With the most advanced finFET technologies, there’s only so much room for spacers, gates, and contacts,” IBM added.
The VTFET, on the other hand, can nix the need to use “isolation gates” on the transistors, freeing up more room. In addition, the VTFET directs the electrical current vertically, which can help improve the transistor switching speeds and reduce the power needs.
“We believe that the VTFET design represents a huge leap forward toward building next-generation transistors that will enable a trend of smaller, more powerful and energy-efficient devices in the years to come,” IBM added.
But despite the hype, there’s good reason to be skeptical about the announcement too. Creating a few test chips is one thing, producing them on a large scale is another. IBM is also not known for semiconductor manufacturing, though Samsung is.
The companies didn’t say when the VTFET technology will arrive as an official chip manufacturing process. So even if the transistors enter into production, it may take years before we see them powering actual products.
