Intel developing turbo-charging transistors

Intel has reached a milestone in its quest to make transistors switch ever faster while using less energy, by integrating a high-k gate with a compound semiconductor transistor. Details were presented this week at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM). Intel has been researching the possibility of replacing the silicon channel of the transistor by a compound semiconductor material such as indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs). Up until recently, such transistors used a Schottky gate with no gate dielectric, and were subjected to large gate leakage. Intel has now identified and integrated a high-k gate dielectric to reduce leakage with these so-called QWFETs (quantum well field effect transistors). The prototype device was fabricated on a silicon wafer substrate, pointing towards eventual process synergy with the existing silicon infrastructure. By using a high-k dielectric, gate leakage for short channel devices was reduced by 1000x compared with a Schottky gate, while the electrical oxide thickness was reduced by 33%, leading to higher switching speeds, which in turn leads to improved chip performance. More details are available in a blog by Mike Mayberry.