Global Foundries unveils new, tiny, tech

Capability to scale down beyond 22nm, on show in Tokyo.

Global Foundries used the 2009 Symposium on VLSI Technology in Kyoto, Japan to show off a brand new technique.

It said its chip-making innovation allows the equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) in a high-k metal gate (HKMG) transistor to be scaled down to well beyond the 22nm node, purportedly while maintaining overall performance.

Lost and Foundries showed off an n-MOSFET device with EOT of 0.55nm and a p-MOSFET with EOT of 0.7nm.

GloFo said the achievement proves the fab firm is well on track to introduce HKMG ahead of all other foundries, including its rival TSMC, at the 32nm node, and it proves that the AMD spinoff is diligently chipping away to achieve "leadership position" at 22nm and beyond, it claims.

"We expect to be ready to accept 32nm designs in 2H09 with the ability to ramp production in 1H10," Jon Carvill, GloFo's director of communications told the INQ. He added, "we have demonstrated that the equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of a HKMG transistor can be scaled to well beyond the 22nm node while maintaining the overall performance of the device."

The Japanese demo does indeed take the firm a baby step closer to making chips for next gen mobile devices with more power but better battery life, a holy grail for any laptop or smartphone manufacturer.

In order to truly achieve smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient products, however, GF says that it, and the entire semiconductor industry, will have to jump through flaming hoops and overcome "seemingly insurmountable odds."

In order to maintain the switching precision of a HKMG transistor, the EOT of the high-k oxide layer has to be reduced, but this reduction paradoxically increases the leakage current, creating a highly power hungry microchip. This makes EOT scaling one of the main hurdles facing the continued use of HKMG technology at smaller nodes. Others have reportedly succeeded in reducing EOT to similar levels, but always at the expense of device performance, making Glofo's feat no small potatoes.

GloFo unabashedly admits to leveraging its close ties with IBM, and its position as part of the IBM Technology Alliance, to get its paws on research resources in order to push the envelope on scaling the EOT of HKMG transistors while keeping leakage and threshold voltages low.

The way Global Foundries sees it, HKMG is an absolutely critical component in its technology roadmap, precisely because of its potential usefulness in the ultra-portable notebook and smartphone markets.