On May 4, Intel announced the introduction of its next-generation 22 nm process technology with great fanfare. While moving production to 22 nm is an achievement, it was not unexpected. Intel has maintained a regular cadence of moving to a new process every 24 months, on average; this is the embodiment of Moore’s Law, in which smaller geometries enable more transistors to be produced on each wafer, and thus chip. The surprise came in the accompanying technology—3D tri-gate transistors—which is a shift from the traditional planar (or 2D) transistor using a vertical channel that stands above the silicon substrate and a gate that encapsulates the channel. Continue Reading