Faster Macs Coming--Intel Using Technology Breakthrough Similar to IBM's for Faster, Smaller and More Efficient CPU's

[1/29] [Updated]Faster Macs Coming--Intel Using Technology Breakthrough Similar to IBM's for Faster, Smaller and More Efficient CPU's

The speed of CPUs has been "stuck" near 3GHz for awhile but IBM working with AMD, Sony and Toshiba have developed a new way to construct the tiny transistors with a new material, clearing a path toward chip circuitry that is smaller, faster and more power-efficient than previously thought possible. The technology, called "high-k metal gate," substitutes a new material into a critical portion of the transistor that controls its primary on/off switching function. The material provides superior electrical properties compared to its predecessor, enhancing the transistor’s function while also allowing the size of the transistor to be shrunk beyond limits being reached today.

The new technology allows the industry to again get on the path of "Moore's Law" of doubling the number of transistors on a processor every 12-18 months. Only minimal retooling of manufacturing plants is required to use the new material.

Subsequently, Intel announced that it was using high-k material and metal gate technology in its 45nm process to build faster, smaller and more power efficient CPUs later this year. The new CPUs are called the Penryn family and are targeted at computer applications, including Apple's Macs running Mac OS X.

According to Intel,

"With more than 400 million transistors for dual-core processors and more than 800 million for quad-core, the Penryn family of 45nm processors includes new microarchitecture features for greater performance and power management capabilities, as well as higher core speeds and up to 12 megabytes of cache."

Intel explained that silicon dioxide has been used to make the transistor gate dielectric for more than 40 years because of its manufacturability and ability to deliver continued transistor performance improvements as it has been made ever thinner. Intel has successfully shrunk the silicon dioxide gate dielectric to as little as 1.2nm thick – equal to five atomic layers – on our previous 65nm process technology, but the continued shrinking has led to increased current leakage through the gate dielectric, resulting in wasted electric current and unnecessary heat.

Transistor gate leakage associated with the ever-thinning silicon dioxide gate dielectric is recognized by the industry as one of the most formidable technical challenges facing Moore’s Law. To solve this critical issue, Intel replaced the silicon dioxide with a thicker hafnium-based high-k material in the gate dielectric, reducing leakage by more than 10 times compared to the silicon dioxide used for more than four decades.

Because the high-k gate dielectric is not compatible with today’s silicon gate electrode, the second part of Intel’s 45nm transistor material recipe is the development of new metal gate materials. While the specific metals that Intel uses remains secret, the company will use a combination of different metal materials for the transistor gate electrodes.

The combination of the high-k gate dielectric with the metal gate for Intel’s 45nm process technology provides more than a 20 percent increase in drive current, or higher transistor performance. Conversely it reduces source-drain leakage by more than five times, thus improving the energy efficiency of the transistor.

Intel's 45nm process technology also improves transistor density by approximately two times that of the previous generation, allowing the company to either increase the overall transistor count or to make processors smaller. Because the 45nm transistors are smaller than the previous generation, they take less energy to switch on and off, reducing active switching power by approximately 30 percent. Intel will use copper wires with a low-k dielectric for its 45nm interconnects for increased performance and lower power consumption. It will also use innovative design rules and advanced mask techniques to extend the use of 193nm dry lithography to manufacture its 45nm processors because of the cost advantages and high manufacturability it affords. [Update: Clarified headline.] [Bill Fox]