Intel Announces 3D Transistors
by Robert Quigley | 2:51 pm, May 4th, 2011
At a press event today, Intel announced that its next generation of chips will employ a never-before-used 3D structure. The new technology that makes this breakthrough possible, known as Tri-Gate, has been in the making for a long time: Intel was talking about 3D chips as far back as 2002, and published a lengthy overview of Tri-Gate in 2006. Now, it’s here, and it’ll first hit the mass market when Intel begins manufacturing its 22 nm Ivy Bridge CPUs in the second half of 2011.
Tri-Gate chips can rightly be called “3D” thanks to an “incredibly thin three-dimensional silicon fin that rises up vertically from the silicon substrate,” allowing for a more finessed control of current, accomplished by “implementing a gate on each of the three sides of the fin – two on each side and one across the top — rather than just one on top, as is the case with the 2-D planar transistor.” Not only does this allow Intel to manage the increasingly tricky feat of keeping up with Moore’s Law, but according to the chipmaker, it will lead to a performance increase of 37 percent and a reduction in power costs of over 50 percent; the cost of manufacture, however, will only go up two or three percent.
The three-dimensional Tri-Gate transistors represent a fundamental departure from the two-dimensional planar transistor structure that has powered not only all computers, mobile phones and consumer electronics to-date, but also the electronic controls within cars, spacecraft, household appliances, medical devices and virtually thousands of other everyday devices for decades.
Explanation video below:
(VentureBeat, Engadget via Techmeme)
Eric Limer 
Max 
James Plafke 
Rollin Bishop 
There is a Beer That Tastes Like Bacon and Maple Syrup
Philosoraptor’s 50 Wisest Musings
The 65 Best Planking Pictures From Around the World
11 Fantastic Photos and Videos of Yesterday’s Annular Eclipse
Here’s How to Play the Fully Functional Moog Synthesizer Google Doodle and Four Track Recorder
RSS