Chip shortages are a recurring theme today due to the global crisis affecting a large number of industries. However, that does not mean that there are no innovations in the semiconductor market. IBM and Samsung , for example, announced the progress they have made in developing a new design for semiconductors. This is VTFET (Vertical Transport Nanosheet Field Effect Transistor), a method that allows to arrange transistors vertically on a chip .
According to the companies, this initiative aims to “reimagine” Moore's Law to keep it in effect for several more years. With VTFET, IBM and Samsung promise an alternative to the technology currently implemented in semiconductors and known as FinFET. What is proposed with the new design is to stack the transistors in layers perpendicular to the surface of the silicon wafers , instead of placing them along it.
“This new approach addresses scale barriers by relaxing physical constraints on transistor gate length, spacer thickness, and contact size so that these characteristics can be optimized; either for performance or for power consumption.” specialists assure you.
The study of a vertical design for transistors is not new in the semiconductor industry; But what IBM and Samsung propose is really ambitious. Although the alliance between both companies does not intend to implement the VTFET design in the short term , its creators have made its benefits clear.
“With VTFET, we successfully demonstrated that it is possible to explore scaling beyond nano-sheet technology in CMOS semiconductor design. In these advanced nodes, VTFET could be used to provide twice the performance or up to 85 percent reduction. in power use compared to the scaled FinFET alternative, “they explained.
IBM, Samsung and a new semiconductor design reimagining Moore's Law
That IBM is leading a new innovation in semiconductor development is no surprise. The American company was in charge of creating the first 7-nanometer chips in 2015. While in May of this year it presented the first 2-nanometer processor; it is capable of containing 50 billion transistors on a chip the size of a fingernail.
With VTFET, IBM and Samsung want to end the limitations that have plagued conventional semiconductor design. According to the companies, at some point FinFET technology will inevitably run out of physical space to house more transistors ; and this will happen because it will be impossible to continue reducing the passage of doors and wiring. That's where the vertical arrangement of the transistors will shine, according to the researchers. “By directing the flow of electrical current vertically, doors, spaces and contacts are no longer restricted in traditional ways,” they indicate.
As we have already mentioned, the innovation of IBM and Samsung will not be applied in the short term to mass consumer products. However, by changing the development plane of semiconductors, it is sought to make a fundamental leap that opens the door to more powerful and, at the same time, more energy efficient devices . According to a video published in recent hours, the technology could be used to charge the battery of smartphones for “more than a week”; or to achieve a wider range of functions for devices connected to the internet, and even for applications related to autonomous mobility and space exploration.
