It continues the industry trend of miniaturization in integrated circuit (IC) technology, which has been essential for improving performance, increasing transistor density, and reducing power consumption.
The 1 nm process node will likely rely on advanced materials and novel transistor architectures to overcome physical and economic challenges associated with continued scaling.
These companies have already been working on overcoming scaling challenges, including increased power density, heat dissipation, and variability at such small dimensions.
As semiconductor technology approaches the 1 nm process node, researchers are exploring innovative materials and structures to continue device miniaturization and performance enhancement.
[6] In July 2024, a team led by Director JO Moon-Ho at the Center for Van der Waals Quantum Solids within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in Korea achieved a significant breakthrough.
This process was utilized to construct a new structure for two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor logic circuits, employing these 1D metals as gate electrodes.
However, the IBS research team demonstrated that the channel width modulated by the electric field from the 1D MTB gate could be as small as 3.9 nm, surpassing these projections.