Intel has unveiled a new 3-D transistor design – Tri-Gate into high-volume manufacturing at the 22-nanometer (nm) node in an Intel chip codenamed ‘Ivy Bridge.’
Intel’s 3-D Tri-Gate transistors enable chips to operate at lower voltage with lower leakage, providing a combination of improved performance and energy efficiency compared to previous transistors.
The capabilities give chip designers the flexibility to choose transistors targeted for low power or high performance, depending on the application.
Intel claims the 22nm 3-D Tri-Gate transistors provide up to 37% 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.
Intel Senior Fellow Mark Bohr said this milestone is going further than simply keeping up with Moore’s Law.
"The low-voltage and low-power benefits far exceed what we typically see from one process generation to the next. It will give product designers the flexibility to make current devices smarter and wholly new ones possible," Bohr said.
The 3-D Tri-Gate transistor will be implemented in the company’s upcoming manufacturing process, called the 22nm node, in reference to the size of individual transistor features.
