Team shrinks junctionless transistor to 50nm
A year after developing the first junctionless transistor, a team of scientists at University College Cork's Tyndall National Institute has made a smaller version. In the junctionless transistor, current flows through a very thin silicon wire and is controlled using an annular structure – equivalent to a gate – that 'squeezes' the wire.
"The semiconductor industry was excited by the development of the junctionless transistor," said Professor Jean-Pierre Colinge, pictured, "as it could represent simpler manufacturing processes of transistors … any improvement in the performance or structure of the transistor is always hugely significant."
According to Prof Colinge, the Institute has now made junctionless transistors measuring 50nm – 20 times smaller than the original devices.
"The new junctionless transistor is 30% more energy efficient and outperforms current transistors on the market. We had predicted the transistor could perform on a smaller scale and I am happy to say that we were correct."
