5 nanometer

In semiconductor manufacturing, the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors defines the 5 nanometer (5 nm) node as the technology node following the 7 nm node.

Transistors at the 7 nm scale were first produced by researchers in the first decade of the 21st century – the process scale may represent the end of Moore's Law scaling for electronic devices.

As of 2016, no 5 nm scale devices have been commercially produced.

History

Background

The 5 nm node was once assumed by some experts to be the end of Moore's law.^[1] Transistors smaller than 7 nm will experience quantum tunnelling through their logic gates.^[2] Due to the costs involved in development, 5 nm is predicted to take longer to reach market than the 2 years estimated by Moore's law.^[3]

Technology demos

In 2006, a team of Korean researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the National Nano Fab Center codeveloped a 3 nm transistor, the world's smallest nanoelectronic device based on conventional technology, called a fin field-effect transistor (FinFET).^[4][5] It was the smallest transistor ever produced.

In 2008, transistors one atom thick and ten atoms wide were made by UK researchers. They were carved from graphene, a potential alternative to silicon as the basis of future computing. Graphene is a material made from flat sheets of carbon in a honeycomb arrangement, and is a leading contender. A team at the University of Manchester, UK, used it to make some of the smallest transistors at this time: devices only 1 nm across that contain just a few carbon rings.^[6]

In 2010, an Australian team announced that they fabricated a single functional transistor out of 7 atoms that measured 4 nm in length.^[7][8][9]

In 2012, a single-atom transistor was fabricated using a phosphorus atom bound to a silicon surface (between two significantly larger electrodes).^[10] This transistor could be said to be a 180 picometer transistor, the Van der Waals radius of a phosphorus atom; though its covalent radius bound to silicon is likely smaller.^[11] Making transistors smaller than this will require either using elements with smaller atomic radii, or using subatomic particles—like electrons or protons—as functional transistors.

In 2015 IMEC and Cadence had fabricated 5 nm test chips. The fabricated test chips are not fully functional devices but rather are to evaluate patterning of interconnect layers.^[12][13]

In 2015 Intel described a lateral nanowire (or gate-all-around) FET concept for the 5-nm node.^[14]

Commercialization

Although Intel has not yet divulged any certain plans to manufacturers or retailers, their 2009 roadmap projected an end-user release by approximately 2020.^[15][16]

References

1. "End of Moore's Law: It's not just about physics". CNET. August 28, 2013.
2. Pirzada, Usman. "Intel ISSCC: 14nm all figured out, 10nm is on track, Moores Law still alive and kicking". WCCF Tech. Retrieved 2015-07-02.
3. "End of Moore's Law: It's not just about physics". CNET. August 28, 2013.
4. Still Room at the Bottom.(nanometer transistor developed by Yang-kyu Choi from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology )
5. Lee, Hyunjin; et al. (2006). "Sub-5nm All-Around Gate FinFET for Ultimate Scaling". Symposium on VLSI Technology, 2006: 58–59. doi:10.1109/VLSIT.2006.1705215.
6. Atom-thick material runs rings around silicon
7. Fuechsle, Martin; et al. (2010). "Spectroscopy of few-electron single-crystal silicon quantum dots". Nature Nanotechnology 5 (7): 502–505. doi:10.1038/nnano.2010.95.
8. Ng, Jansen (May 24, 2010). "Researchers Create Seven Atom Transistor, Working on Quantum Computer". Daily Tech.
9. Beale, Bob (May 24, 2010). "Quantum leap: World's smallest transistor built with just 7 atoms". Phys.Org.
10. Fuechsle, M.; Miwa, J. A.; Mahapatra, S.; Ryu, H.; Lee, S.; Warschkow, O.; Hollenberg, L. C. L.; Klimeck, G.; Simmons, M. Y. (2012). "A single-atom transistor". Nature Nanotechnology 7 (4): 242. doi:10.1038/nnano.2012.21.
11. "Team designs world's smallest transistor". Retrieved 28 May 2013.
12. "IMEC and Cadence Disclose 5nm Test Chip". Retrieved 25 Nov 2015.
13. "The Roadmap to 5nm: Convergence of Many Solutions Needed". Retrieved 25 Nov 2015.
14. Mark LaPedus (2016-01-20). "5nm Fab Challenges". Intel presented a paper that generated sparks and fueled speculation regarding the future direction of the leading-edge IC industry. The company described a next-generation transistor called the nanowire FET, which is a finFET turned on its side with a gate wrapped around it. Intel’s nanowire FET, sometimes called a gate-all-around FET, is said to meet the device requirements for 5nm, as defined by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS).
15. "Intel Outlines Process Technology Roadmap". Xbit. 2009-08-22.
16. "インテル、32nmプロセスの順調な立ち上がりをアピール" [Intel touts steady rise of 32nm processors] (in Japanese). PC Watch. 2009-08-21.