Peter Clarke, Electronics360
June 16, 2015
Silicon-based nanowire transistors (NWTs)—otherwise known as gate-all-around transistors—are getting ready to replace FinFETs at the 7nm or 5nm integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing nodes, according to experts in the field.
Although the alternatives of vertical versus lateral orientation and silicon, germanium, carbon or III-V compound semiconductor materials in the transistor channel provide a broad set of possibilities, one source of uncertainty is determining what 7nm or 5nm means in the context of the upcoming IC manufacturing nodes.