Intel is once again claiming leadership in the chip-making industry. It has announced the successful implementation of new transistor technology to produce the first working 45nm microprocessors for its next generation of products codenamed "Penryn".
Intel says the technology uses an innovative combination of new materials that drastically reduces transistor leakage and increases performance. Hundreds of millions of these microscopic transistors will be inside the next-generation Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Core 2 Quad and Xeon families of multi-core processors.
"We believe this is the biggest advancement in transistor technology since the 1960s and will give Intel more than a year's lead over the rest of the semiconductor industry," Intel senior fellow Mark Bohr told the media ahead of the official announcement at the weekend.
According to Bohr, the new high-k plus metal gate transistor technology will enable a doubling in transistor density, a 30% reduction in power consumption, a more than 20% improvement in transistor switching speed and more than 10 times reduction in electrical leakage from transistors, compared with today's 65nm technology.
"Our implementation of novel high-k and metal gate transistors for our 45nm process technology will help Intel deliver even faster, more energy-efficient multi-core products that build upon our successful Intel Core 2 and Xeon family of processors, and extend Moore's Law well into the next decade," he said.
The industry recognises transistor gate leakage associated with the ever-thinning silicon dioxide gate dielectric as one of the most formidable technical challenges facing Moore's Law, which says transistor counts double about every two years.
Intel says these improvements to be delivered to the PC manufacturing industry in the second half of 2007 will translate into better PC designs with smaller form factors, as well as lower power consumption, costs and noise production.
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