It's silicon, Jim, but not as we know it

IBM and Intel Corp separately claimed late last week to have developed new types of microchip transistor materials to stem energy leakage, a problem that has plagued the semiconductor industry as chip geometries have continued to shrink. While both companies' technologies are being touted as revolutionary, they won't necessarily mean a competitive advantage for either chipmaker.
Both have come up with new microchip materials that promise to keep electric current flowing in order to boost performance and reduce heat. The goal, of course, is to keep pace with Moore's Law, the observation by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore that the complexity of chips doubles about every 18 months.


While the world's biggest chipmakers had expected to continue to adhere to Moore's Law for the short-term, their longer-term progress was threatened by limitations of existing an microchip material, silicon dioxide.Silicon dioxide has long been used as an insulator within transistors. But as chip geometries get smaller, the width of silicon dioxide has become thinner so much so that electronic current seeps out, which causes excess heat and energy loss.IBM and Intel have for years been working on a replacement material that is both thin and able to contain current. They have come up with different types of metal that can be used in a transistor's gate, which acts like the on and off switch for the device, as well as the gate dielectric, an insulating layer that helps contain the current.Intel will replace silicon dioxide with a new hafnium-based material with a property called high-k for gates and gate dialectrics, which would reduce leakage by more than 10 times compared to silicon dioxide, according to the company.The high-k gate dielectric is not compatible with existing silicon gate electrode, so Intel has developed a new mix of metals for gate materials. The company said the specifics of this metal mix would remain secret for competitor reasons.The upshot would be more than a 20% increase in performance, with improved energy efficiency."The implementation of high-k and metal materials marks the biggest change in transistor technology since the introduction of polysilicon gate MOS transistors in the late 1960s," said Moore, in a statement.IBM too said it would use high-k metal gate technology as a gate substitute, but did not provide the same level of granularity as Intel.

IBM said that introducing high-k into current manufacturing techniques was as important as the new material itself. After all, chip-manufacturing equipment costs many millions, and a single chip-fabrication facility sets chipmakers back at least $1bn.Big Blue claimed that the creation of its new high-k component was done without requiring major manufacturing tooling or process changes "an essential element if the technology is to be economically viable," said a company statement.IBM has inserted high-k into manufacturing line at its East Fishkill, New York fab, and will begin using it in 45-nanometer chips in 2008.Intel said it would also use high-k later this year in its 45-nanometer chips, which will enable to build faster, more energy efficient multi-core Intel Core 2 chips, used in desktops and notebooks, and Xeon chips, for servers.While Intel's arch microprocessor rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc may seem to be at a disadvantage by not developing its own high-k edge, AMD developed the technology in partnership with IBM, as well as Sony Corp and Toshiba Corp.AMD, IBM and Intel all previously announced plans to begin making 45-nm chips during the next year or so, which means high-k has had little effect on existing roadmaps. However, as Intel said, high-k will enable them to continue Moore's Law well into the next decade.