IBM’s High-k Metal Gate for Next Generation Chips

IBM announced new semiconductor technology, called High-k Metal Gate. In team with AMD, Sony and Toshiba, the company has found a way to construct a critical part of the transistor with a new material.

High-k Metal Gate substitutes a new material into a critical portion of the transistor that controls its primary on/off switching function. The material provides superior electrical properties compared to its predecessor, enhancing the transistor's function while also allowing the size of the transistor to be shrunk beyond limits being ever reached. This new technology can be incorporated into existing chip manufacturing lines with minimal changes.

With this technology,  IBM expects could allow the industry to continue on the path defined by Moore's Law, that predicts a doubling of the number of transistors on a chip every 12-18 months. The semiconductor industry has been able to maintain this rate of improvement for decades, but was reaching the limits of current technology.

IBM has inserted the High-k Metal Gate technology into its semiconductor mfg in East Fishkill, NY and will apply it to products with chip circuits as small as 45 nanometers starting in 2008.

Source: IBM Research Division