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New Transistors for 22 Nanometer Chips Have an Unprecedented Combination of

Power Savings and Performance Gains

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Intel announces a major technical breakthrough and historic innovation in microprocessors: the world's first 3-D transistors, called

Tri-Gate, in a production technology.

The transition to 3-D Tri-Gate transistors sustains the pace of technology advancement, fueling Moore's Law for years to come.

An unprecedented combination of performance improvement and power reduction to enable new innovations across a range of

future 22nm-based devices from the smallest handhelds to powerful cloud-based servers.

Intel demonstrates a 22nm microprocessor codenamed "Ivy Bridge" that will be the first high-volume chip to use 3-D Tri-Gate

transistors.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 4, 2011 Intel Corporation today announced a significant breakthrough in the evolution of the

transistor, the microscopic building block of modern electronics. For the first time since the invention of silicon transistors

over 50 years ago, transistors using a three-dimensional structure will be put into high-volume manufacturing. Intel will

introduce a revolutionary 3-D transistor design called Tri-Gate, first disclosed by Intel in 2002, into high-volume

manufacturing at t he 22-nanometer (nm) node in an Intel chip codenamed "Ivy Bridge." A nanometer is one-billionth of a

meter.

The three-dimensional Tri-Gate transistors represent a fundamental departure from the two-dimensional planar transistor

structure that has powered not only all computers, mobile phones and consumer electronics to-date, but also the

electronic controls within cars, spacecraft, household appliances, medical devices and virtually thousands of other everyday

devices for decades.

"Intel's scientists and engineers have once again reinvented the transistor, this time utilizing the third dimension," said Intel

President and CEO Paul Otellini. "Amazing, world-shaping devices will be created from this capability as we advance Moore's

Law into new realms."

Scientists have long recognized the benefits of a 3-D structure for sustaining the pace of Moore's Law as device dimensions

become so small that physical laws become barriers to advancement. The key to today's breakthrough is Intel's ability to

deploy its novel 3-D Tri-Gate transistor design into high-volume manufacturing, ushering in the next era of Moore's Law and

opening the door to a new generation of innovations across a broad spectrum of de vices.

Moore's Law is a forecast fo r the pace of silicon t echnology development t hat states t hat roughly every 2 years transistor

density will double, while increasing functionality and performance and decreasing costs. It has become the basic business

model for the semiconducto r industry for more than 40 years.

Unprecedented Power Savings and Performance Gains

Intel's 3-D Tri-Gate transistors enable chips to ope rate at lower voltage w ith lower leakage, providing an unprecedent ed

combination of improved performance and energy efficiency compared to previous state-of-the-art transistors. The

capabilities give chip designers the flexibility to choose transistors targeted for low power or high performance, depending

on t he application.

The 22nm 3-D Tri-Gate transistors provide up to 37 percent performance increase at low voltage versus Intel's 32nm planar

transistors. This incredible gain means that they are ideal for use in small handheld devices, which operate using less energy

to "switch" back and forth. Alternatively, the new t ransistors consume less than half the power when at the same

performance as 2-D planar transistors on 32nm chips.

"The performance gains and power savings of Intel's unique 3-D Tri-Gate transistors are like nothing we've seen before,"

said Mark Bohr, Intel Senior Fellow. "This milestone is going further than simply keeping up with Moore's Law. The low-

voltage and low-power benefits far exceed what w e typically see from one process generation to t he next. It will give

product designers the flexibility to make current devices smarter and wholly new ones possible. We believe this

breakthrough will extend Intel's lead even further over the rest of t he semiconductor industry."

Continuing the Pace of Innovation Moore's Law

Transistors continue to get smaller, cheaper and more energy efficient in accordance with Moore's Law named for Intel

co-founder Gordon Moore. Because of this, Intel has been able to innovate and integrate, adding more features andcomputing cores to each chip, increasing performance, and decreasing manufacturing cost per transistor.

Sustaining the progress of Moore's Law becomes even more complex w ith the 22nm generation. Anticipating this, Intel

research scientists in 2002 invented what they called a Tri-Gate transistor, named for the three sides of the gate. T oday's

announcement follows further years of development in Intel's highly coordinated research-development-manufacturing

pipeline, and marks the implementation of this work for high-volume manufacturing.

Intel Reinvents Transistors Using New 3-D Structure

Posted by IntelPRin Intel Newsroomon May 4, 2011 9:05:29 AM

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The 3-D Tri-Gate transistors are a reinvention of the transistor. The traditional "flat" two-dimensional planar gate is replaced

with an incredibly thin three-dimensional silicon fin that rises up vertically from the silicon substrate. Control of current is

accomplished by implementing a gate on each of t he 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 (t o minimize powe r), and enables the t ransistor t o switch very quickly between t he tw o states

(again, for performance).

Just as skyscrapers let urban planners optimize available space by building upward, Intel's 3-D Tri-Gate transistor structure

provides a way to manage density. Since these fins are vertical in nature, transistors can be packed closer together, a

critical component to the techno logical and economic benefits of Moore's Law. For future generations, designers also have

the ability t o cont inue growing the height of the fins to get even more performance and energy-efficiency gains.

"For years we have seen limits to how small transistors can get," said Moore. "This change in the basic structure is a truly

revolutionary approach, and one that should allow Moore's Law, and t he historic pace of innovation, to continue."

World's First Demonstration of 22nm 3-D Tri-GateTransistors

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. More than 6 million 22nm Tri-Gate transistors could fit in the period

at the end of this sentence.

Today, Intel demonstrated the world's first 22nm microprocessor, codenamed "Ivy Bridge," working in a laptop, server and

desktop computer. Ivy Bridge-based Intel Core family processors will be the first high-volume chips to use 3-D Tri-Gate

transistors. Ivy Bridge is slated for high-volume production readiness by the end of this year.

This silicon technology breakthrough will also aid in the delivery of more highly integrated Intel Atom processor-based

products t hat scale the performance, functionality and software compatibility o f Intel architect ure while meet ing the

overall power, cost and size requirements for a range of market segment needs.

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TimelordMay 4, 2011 11:47 AMif they remember the Tristate transistor we can build another world or a bridge towards it.

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