AMD Announces World's Fastest CMOS Transistors
(I figured all the AMDroids would LOVE to see this. AMD's transistors are faster than Intel's recently announced. These, too, are 15nm transistors, but they run at 0.3-ps, or 3.33 trillion switches per second. Congratulations to those process engineers involved in the discovery.)
Details of Technology Breakthrough To Be Presented At Prestigious Forum
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 2001--AMD (NYSE:AMD - news) announced today it has built a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) transistor that achieves the fastest switching speeds yet reported in the semiconductor industry.
The company has developed a device with a 15-nanometer gate length (0.015 micron), a prototype for the transistors that it plans to use to power future generations of microprocessors.
This latest milestone from AMD heralds the capability for a twenty-fold increase in the number of transistors per chip and a ten-fold increase in microprocessor performance by the end of the decade. AMD will disclose its research in a paper to be presented in Washington D.C. on December 4 at the 2001 International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), one of the world's leading conferences for semiconductor engineers and scientists.
AMD's 15-nm device is a prototype that is key to the development of AMD's 30-nanometer process generation, which the company plans to have in production by approximately 2009. On AMD's roadmap, the 30-nm (0.03-micron) technology will make use of 300-mm wafers.
``Our ongoing research allows us to stay on the forefront of transistor design, which translates into increasingly powerful processors. Transistor technology is the 'engine' that powers our high-performance microprocessors. That's why AMD continues to devote significant R&D resources to ensure that our transistor technology is world class,'' said Dr. Craig Sander, vice president of AMD's technology development group.
The 15-nm transistor, devised in AMD's Submicron Development Center, is a CMOS-based, 0.8-Volt device, designed to handle switching speeds of 0.3-ps, or 3.33 trillion switches per second. The development of the 15-nm transistor is a powerful indicator that transistor scaling will continue unabated for many years to come.
``The work to develop this transistor is a vital part of AMD's overall transistor development effort,'' said Sander. ``This look-ahead research gives us confidence in our long-term roadmaps and strategies, while providing spin-off technology that feeds our near-term development program. We are proud to be the first company in our industry to publicly present data demonstrating these capabilities.''
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