The US chip giant said that for the first time since the silicon transistor was invented more than 50 years ago it has found a way to mass produce them in three dimensions instead of only two.<\/p>\n
Intel’s “revolutionary” Tri-Gate transistor is built upward instead of only out to the sides on par with the way a skyscraper has more capacity than a cluster of houses.<\/p>\n
“Intel’s scientists and engineers have once again reinvented the transistor, this time utilising the third dimension,” said Intel chief executive Paul Otellini<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Amazing, world-shaping devices will be created from this capability as we advance Moore’s Law into new realms.”<\/p>\n Moore’s Law is a principle that the number of transistors that can be placed economically on a chip doubles every two years.<\/p>\n The trend has held true for a half-century and has been at the heart of a mobile lifestyle in which smartphones, tablet computers and other gadgets grow in power while shrinking in size.<\/p>\n The Tri-Gate chip, first disclosed by Intel in 2002, is manufactured at the 22-nanometer node. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.<\/p>\n “The performance gains and power savings of Intel’s unique 3-D Tri-Gate transistors are like nothing we’ve seen before,” said Intel senior fellow Mark Bohr.<\/p>\n “The low-voltage and low-power benefits far exceed what we typically see from one process generation to the next,” he continued.<\/p>\n “It will give product designers the flexibility to make current devices smarter and wholly new ones possible.”<\/p>\n