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1.8.4 ICT: Application Profile: Integrated Circuits
Short application description
The classic definition of an integrated circuit is ‘an electronic circuit where all the elements of the circuit are integrated together on a single semiconductor substrate.'
Continuous size reduction of CMOS transistors (the basic building blocks of logic circuits) has produced enhanced performance for decades in terms of speed, power consumption, reliability and cost per function. Although Moore's law was initially made in the form of an observation and forecast, it became to be accepted as a goal for the entire industry.
Almost 70% of the total semiconductor components market is directly impacted by the miniaturization trend. This 70% comprises three component groups of similar size: microprocessors, mass memories, and digital logic.
Moore's Law states that the number of transistors on a chip doubles about every two years. New technology generations continue to be introduced every 2-3 years. Intel's 45 nm logic technology is currently in production and, according to Intel, the delivery for the next 32 nm technology generation in on target.
The speed of the world's most powerful computers has increased exponentially, doubling about every year and a half in line with Moore's Law. That's an increase of roughly a factor of 10 every five years. Further increase in processing performance will enable new computing applications, such as real-time language translation or facial recognition.
High-performance computing has also fundamental impact on science and engineering. Computer simulations will open the way for discoveries in areas where analytic theory and experimental science are insufficient alone. This is particularly important for areas such as nanotechnology where experiments are often very difficult and costly to conduct.
The rising transistor count and their smaller size (increased speed) also lead to increased power consumption. Consequently energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important. Instead of measuring gigahertz rates, the semiconductor industry is now focusing on performance-per-watt (high-speed, low-power transistors). Energy efficiency is also linked to thermal management, an issue which has been defined as one of the most critical research topics to create future computing devices.
Another significant challenge is reliability. As computer size grows, the components need to be more reliable or have more redundancy and fault tolerance. In general, the number of fabrication flaws is unavoidably increasing as the circuits shrink towards the nanometer scale. Many nanoscale devices simply do not work as expected or occasionally are broken or shorted together.
While it is foreseen that it is possible to continue the development of CMOS technology well into the next decade, economical limits to device scaling could be reached even before that. Keeping up with Moore's Law requires major investments continuously from all players in the value chain. For each new process technology generation, the costs increase. As a result, only a few players globally can produce sufficient R&D mass.
Moreover, developing new disruptive technologies in the Beyond CMOS domain will require even much greater capital input. For this reason, new technologies will first have to be compatible with the CMOS platform.
There is also a growing amount of new technology options available and a rapidly growing diversity of required materials, while the initial markets can be very fragmented. This makes it very difficult to bridge the gap between innovation and future volume markets.
Hafnium-based Intel® 45nm Process Technology
Intel's new 45nm high-k metal gate silicon technology uses new materials including hafnium to replace the transistor's silicon dioxide gate dielectric and new metals to replace the polysilicon gate electrode. The new technology helps to reduce electrical leakage and thus enables smaller, more energy-efficient and higher-performance processors.
Economic Information and Analysis
Many of the applications of nanotechnology for integrated circuits will only be realised in the mid - to long term. In terms of current applications, Intel is believed to use an atomic layer deposition process to deposit high-k materials in the fabrication of 45 nm chips. The new materials along with the right process technology are the key enablers in extending the scaling of silicon technology to 45 nm and beyond. However, estimating a value of nanotechnology impact, in terms of its overall contribution to the value of the finished chip, would be almost impossible to do accurately.
Selected Key Companies Profiles
Intel (http://www.intel.com/) is the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, with 2008 revenues of USD 37.6 billion. The company carries out extensive work on IC design and production process optimisation.
NXP (http://www.nxp.com) was established as in independent company in 2006, having previously been the semiconductor arm of Phillips. The company recorded revenues of USD 5.4 billion in 2008.
STMicroelectronics (http://www.st.com) is a semiconductor company with 2008 sales of USD 9.8 billion. The company has a broad product portfolio, producing for mobile, computer, industrial and automotive applications.
Infineon (http://www.infineon.com) produces ICs and systems for industrial, automotive, security and communications applications. The company's 2008 revenues were around EUR 4 billion.
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