Intel Helps Build Low-Power Transistor
As the search for a silicon transistor replacement rolls on, Intel and a European company called Qinetiq have created a transistor that consumes far less power and performs better than the transistors inserted into today's chips.
Source: ZDNetFollowing two years of joint research, the companies announced this week that they created a "quantum well" transistor out of indium antimonide developed by Qinetiq. Indium antimonide is a so-called III-V compound, meaning that its two elements come from third and fifth columns in the periodic table of the elements. Some communication chips already incorporate III-V compounds.
A quantum well transistor differs substantially from existing transistors in that data values are determined by the state of electrons, rather than the electrons' transmission.
The companies said that the experimental transistors could run on one-tenth the power of current transistors and provide the same performance--or provide three times the performance using the same energy consumption.
"The experimental results of our joint research with Qinetiq demonstrate that indium antimonide is a promising material for potential integration in future transistors," Ken David, director of components research for Intel's Technology and Manufacturing Group, said in a prepared statement.
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