Decades ago, Gordon Moore, then chairman of Intel, posited that the transistor density of commercial chips doubled every 18 to 24 months. Moore's Law has held true ever since, and the current state-of-the-art technology is 90 nm. By shrinking the size to 65 nm, Intel hopes to significantly increase the speed and capacity of its memory chips.

The new process technology is expected to be launched into production next year. It is currently undergoing testing and improvement – according to Intel representatives, the corporation recently managed to manufacture static memory (SRAM) chips with a capacity of 70 million bits. For comparison: in November last year, the highest achievement using 65-nm technology was a chip with 4 million bits. It was also announced that, compared to the current generation of Intel industrial chips, the transistor gate length in the new chips was reduced by 30%. “Moore’s Law is still in effect today,” stated Mark Bohr, Intel’s director of microprocessor architecture and integration.

Keeping up with Moore's Law has been a struggle for manufacturers, and while they will likely continue to do so over the next decade, progress in this area is likely to slow or even stop.

One of the most serious technical obstacles to the miniaturization of microcircuits remains the leakage of electric current during the so-called cutoff of transistors. Leaks lead to increased heat generation and other undesirable phenomena, such as a decrease in battery life.

Mark Bohr claims that Intel engineers have managed to implement a new technology for separating silicon atoms, which has made it possible to reduce leakage current by a quarter without reducing transistor performance, or to increase performance by 10-15% without increasing leakage current compared to the current generation of chips.

The new technology also includes the use of "sleeping" transistors - elements that disconnect the current from the currently inactive electrical circuits of the microcircuit. This significantly reduces the energy consumption of the device. (WSJ, 30.08.2004, Alexander Silonov)

Intel Sets Miniaturization Records