HONOLULU, Hawaii -- At the Symposium on VLSI Technology here today, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) claims it has demonstrated a new field-effect transistor (FET) type, said to be one of the world's fastest devices.
The breakthrough allows designers to create semiconductors with transistors as small as 9-nm (0.009-micron), or 1/10,000th the width of a single human hair. In fact, TSMC researchers have simulated the structure to operate within generally acceptable parameters at gate lengths as small as 9-nm.
At that size, designers could pack the computational power of a supercomputer into a space smaller than a fingernail.
TSMC's FET is a three-dimensional device that resembles the backfin of a fish. The Hsinchu-based silicon foundry giant has produced operational FinFETs at gate lengths as small as 35-nm (0.035-micron).
At the event, Chenming Hu, TSMC's chief tchnology officer, said that the silicon foundry giant has improved the FinFET, creating gate lengths below 25-nm (0.025-micron). Initial testing of the P and N type transistors revealed new performance records and compliance with the current and leakage targets set by industry roadmaps for transistor of this size.
Traditional transistors involve the source, drain, and gate. The gate portion of the transistor becomes a challenge when scaling, leading to high current leakage and very hot semiconductors.
A FinFET overcomes these difficulties by providing a second gate, so both sides of the source-and-drain structure are closed at the same time. Double-gating provides better control and dramatically reduces leakage, thereby allowing the transistor size to be shrunk further and current to be increased.
