The design, referred to as Vertical Transport Field Effect Transistors (VTFET) is a new kind of transistor that can be more densely packed onto a computer chip compared to a FinFET transistor (fin field-effect transistor).
“At these advanced nodes, VTFET could be used to provide two times the performance or up to 85 per cent reduction in energy use compared to the scaled finFET alternative,” IBM said in a statement.
The VTFET directs the electrical current vertically, which can help improve the transistor switching speeds and reduce the power needs.
“VTFET design represents a huge leap forward toward building next-generation transistors that will enable a trend of smaller, more powerful and energy-efficient devices in the years to come,” IBM said.
Samsung and IBM didn’t say when the VTFET technology will arrive as an official chip manufacturing process.