Intel to use 3D transistors in 22nm production process this year

Intel will use its 3D Tri-Gate transistor for volume production at the 22nm process generation. Intel's 3D Tri-Gate transistors enable chips to operate at lower voltage with lower leakage. Intel says the 22nm 3D Tri-Gate transistors provide up to 37% percent performance increase at low voltage versus Intel's 32nm planar transistors. Alternatively, the new transistors consume less than half the power when at the same performance as 2-D planar transistors on 32nm chips. "The low-voltage and low-power benefits far exceed what we typically see from one process generation to the next," says Mark Bohr, Intel Senior Fellow, "it will give product designers the flexibility to make current devices smarter and wholly new ones possible." In Tri-Gate transistors, the traditional 2D planar gate is replaced with a 3D silicon fin that rises up vertically from the silicon substrate. Control of current is 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. The additional control enables as much transistor current flowing as possible when the transistor is in the "on" state (for performance), and as close to zero as possible when it is in the "off" state (to minimize power), and enables the transistor to switch very quickly between the two states (again, for performance). Since these fins are vertical in nature, transistors can be packed closer together, a critical component to the technological and economic benefits of density improvements. Ivy Bridge-based Intel Core family processors will be the first high-volume chips to use 3D Tri-Gate transistors. Ivy Bridge is slated for high-volume production readiness by the end of this year.