Digital Home Thoughts: Intel's 'Ivy Bridge' Gives Moore's Law a Lifeline

"SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 4, 2011 - Intel Corporation today announced a significant breakthrough in the evolution of the transistor, the microscopic building block of modern electronics. For the first time since the invention of silicon transistors over 50 years ago, transistors using a three-dimensional structure will be put into high-volume manufacturing. Intel will introduce a revolutionary 3-D transistor design called Tri-Gate, first disclosed by Intel in 2002, into high-volume manufacturing at the 22-nanometer (nm) node in an Intel chip codenamed "Ivy Bridge." A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter."

"Moore's Law is a forecast for the pace of silicon technology development that states that roughly every 2 years transistor density will double, while increasing functionality and performance and decreasing costs. It has become the basic business model for the semiconductor industry for more than 40 years." So, how does Intel ensure that Moore's Law continues to be valid? Move into a third dimension. 22-nanometers, or 22 billionths of a meter - an amazing technical accomplishment. So, just to give us an idea of how small these technologies have become, Intel states that "more than 6 million 22nm Tri-Gate transistors could fit in the period at the end of this sentence." Production availability is scheduled for the end of 2011. Do we live in interesting times, or what?