AMD today announced it has fabricated the smallest double-gate transistors reported to date using industry standard technology. These transistors, measuring ten nanometers, or ten billionths of a meter in length (gate), are six times smaller than the smallest transistors currently in production. AMD's research breakthrough could foster the placement of a billion transistors on the same size chip that currently holds 100 million transistors, enabling a vastly richer computing experience. Transistors are the miniscule on/off switches that make up the integrated circuits in today's microprocessors. A double-gate transistor structure effectively doubles the electrical current that can be sent through a given transistor. The Fin Field Effect Transistor (FinFET) design relies upon a thin vertical silicon "fin" to help control leakage of current through the transistor when it is in the "off" stage. This design combination allows for the creation of new chips with enhanced performance and ever-shrinking geometries.
