IBM and Samsung join hands to achieve semiconductor breakthroughs
At the recently held 2021 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), Intel introduced key technologies in packaging, transistors, and quantum physics, and outlined its future technology development direction. IBM and Samsung have joined hands to introduce the next generation of semiconductor chip technology: Vertical Transport Field Effect Transistors (VTFET). This breakthrough new technology allows transistors to be stacked vertically, which can double the performance or reduce energy consumption by 85% compared to scaled FinFETs.
Under normal circumstances, the transistor is built in a horizontal manner, and the current is directed laterally from one side to the other side. Through the vertical transmission of field-effect transistors, vertical construction and layering of transistors are realized, allowing current to flow up and down in the transistors, freeing from the limitations of horizontal layout and current guidance in the past. Technicians relax the physical limitations of transistor gate length, spacing thickness, and contact size to solve scaling barriers and optimize performance and power consumption. Using VTFET technology can not only reduce the chip area but also improve energy efficiency and provide stronger performance.
With the help of VTFET technology, IBM and Samsung have shown that in CMOS semiconductor design, it is possible to explore scaling performance beyond nanometers. VTFET technology solves many performance obstacles and limitations, expands Moore’s Law, and allows chip designers to place more transistors in the same space to achieve a greater leap. After announcing the production of the world’s first 2nm process node chip this year, IBM once again demonstrated its strength in semiconductors.
IBM and Samsung have cooperated closely in the past period of time. Since the fab was sold to GlobalFoundries in 2014, IBM no longer has its own fab, so the mass production of chips is handed over to Samsung. IBM plans to use its first commercial 7nm process processor IBM Power 10 in its Power Systems servers this year, supporting PCIe Gen5 and DDR5 memory and will be manufactured by Samsung.
