Samsung Electronics and IBM Announce Semiconductor Design Breakthrough to Reduce Energy Use by 85%

Webmaster's House (ChinaZ.com) December 16: IBM and Samsung Electronics have introduced a new semiconductor design, a vertical transmission field-effect transistor (VTFET) with a vertical transistor architecture.

The two companies announced on Dec. 15 that the new semiconductor design has the potential to reduce energy use by 85 percent compared to scaled fin-type field-effect transistors (finFETs). Samsung Electronics also unveiled a plan to produce IBM 5nm chips for servers.

VTFETs are a technique for stacking transistors vertically on the surface of a chip. Historically, transistors were fabricated to sit flat on the surface of semiconductors, with current flowing laterally through them. With VTFETs, IBM and Samsung have successfully implemented transistors built perpendicular to the surface of the chip with vertical or up-and-down currents.

The VTFET process addresses many performance hurdles and limitations to extend Moore's Law as chip designers try to fit more transistors into a fixed space. It also affects the contact points of the transistors, resulting in greater currents with less energy waste. Overall, the new design is designed to triple performance or reduce energy use by 85% compared to the scaled finFET alternative.

IBM and Samsung Electronics have jointly developed VTFET technology at the Albany Nanotechnology Research Center in New York.