Silicon at Its Ultimate Limits: Zeptojoule Terascale Integration

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

The overarching goal of this research is to investigate the critical features of ten nanometer (10x10-9m), zeptojoule (10-21J) terascale (1012) integration (ZTSI) that will enable switching energy reductions approximately five decades beyond those projected by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) for the 50 nm generation of technology in 2011. The hierarchy of limits that govern future opportunities for terascale nanoelectronics will guide these advances. The five levels of this hierarchy have been codified as: 1) fundamental, 2) material, 3) device, 4) circuit, and 5) system. The singular metric that characterizes a binary switching transition is the signal energy transfer (ES) that occurs during the transition. The minimum value of this energy ES(min) was recently derived and is given by (ln2)kT where k is Boltzmann's constant and T is absolute temperature. Clearly, the values of both parameters, k and T, are independent of the properties of any materials, devices, or circuits that are used to implement a binary transition. Consequently, the minimum value of the energy ES(min) becomes 2.88x 10-21 joules for T = 300K, defining the fundamental limit on binary switching energy. On the basis of parameter values projected in the ITRS for the 50 nm generation of technology in 2011, calculation of system limits on gigascale integration (GSI) indicates that the system level limit on binary switching energy ES for the projected 10 GHz local clock frequency is approximately 2.88x10-16 joules. The striking contrast that is immediately evident here is that the 2011, 50 nm generation system level binary switching energy ES of approximately 2.88x 10-16 joules is a factor of 105 larger than the fundamental limit ES(min) of 2.88x 10-21 joules. Discovering why this is so and what can be done with novel nanoelectronics to virtually eliminate this five-decade disparity is the salient objective of the proposed research.