IBM and Samsung Pioneer Ultra‑Efficient Semiconductor Cutting Energy Use by 85%

IBM and Samsung Electronics have unveiled a groundbreaking semiconductor design that could slash power consumption by 85% compared with today’s most advanced chips.

The breakthrough enables a host of new applications—from energy‑efficient cryptomining and data encryption to mobile batteries that could last over a week without recharge—according to the companies.

These chips could also power a range of Internet‑of‑Things and edge devices that consume less energy, allowing them to operate in diverse environments such as ocean buoys, autonomous vehicles and spacecraft.

What sets this design apart is the use of vertical‑transport field‑effect transistors (VTFETs) that sit perpendicular to the chip surface, allowing current to flow vertically rather than laterally. In conventional chips, transistors lie flat and conduct sideways.

"The VTFET process addresses many barriers to performance and extends Moore’s Law by enabling greater current flow with less wasted energy," explained Brent Anderson, VTFET Architect and Program Manager, and Hemanth Jagannathan, VTFET Hardware Technologist and Principal Research Staff Member.

By relaxing physical constraints on transistor gate length, spacer thickness, and contact size, VTFETs can be optimized for either performance or energy consumption, the researchers said.

“Moore’s Law is approaching seemingly insurmountable barriers,” the team noted. “By focusing on a new dimension, VTFET innovation offers a pathway to continue the trend of scaling transistors in a fixed area.”

Intel has also announced plans to explore vertical chip stacking as a strategy to keep pace with Moore’s Law.

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