Friday, December 8, 2023

IBM and Samsung Revolutionize Semiconductor Industry with Groundbreaking VTFET Transistor Technology

In a breakthrough development, IBM and Samsung have introduced a new transistor architecture named Vertical-Transport Nanosheet Field-Effect Transistors (VTFETs), potentially outperforming traditional FinFETs. This exciting innovation was discussed in the AAC Exclusive article, "A Chat With IBM Researchers Who Built the New 'VTFET' Transistor," featuring insights from IBM researchers Brent Anderson and Hemanth Jagannathan.


Comparison of a VTFET (left) vs. a lateral FET (right) transistor with current flowing through them. FinFETs have a limited gate pitch, scaled down to ~48nm, while VTFETs offer more scaling potential with a longer gate length due to their vertical design.

VTFETs offer significant improvements in performance and area scaling, potentially reducing energy usage in devices by up to 85% compared to FinFETs. These transistors operate with a vertical orientation, allowing for longer gates and thicker spacers and source-drains, which reduce resistance and capacitance. This design enables smaller transistor size while enhancing performance.

Anderson and Jagannathan's roles at IBM have been pivotal in the development of VTFETs. Anderson, who joined IBM in 1991, has been instrumental in driving the technology design for various logic nodes, including VTFET. Jagannathan, with IBM for 15 years, has managed process technology groups and played a crucial role in hardware research for VTFET.

Their work signifies a significant step forward in semiconductor technology, promising higher density, performance, and energy efficiency. This innovation represents a potential future for Moore's law scaling, alongside other advancements like monolithic 3D and chip stacking technologies. The real-world implementation of VTFETs is eagerly anticipated, with the technology expected to mature in the coming years.


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