Samsung-IBM Unveil 'VT Pet' Technology Capable of Doubling Semiconductor Performance

VT Pet Wafer

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] It is expected that within a few years, it will be possible to use a mobile phone without charging the battery for a week.

Samsung Electronics and IBM unveiled a new semiconductor design on the 15th that can double the performance of semiconductors or reduce power consumption by as much as 85% to achieve this. This design overcomes the physical limitations of transistors, which control current flow within semiconductor circuits, raising the technology to a new level and showcasing the future of semiconductor development through innovation.

The technology revealed by Samsung Electronics and IBM on this day is a new semiconductor design called ‘VTFET (VT-FET)’ that utilizes a vertical transistor architecture. Transistors in semiconductors are key components that regulate current flow to amplify or switch signals. Traditionally, transistors were placed side-by-side on the semiconductor surface, but this technology stacks transistors vertically, allowing current that previously flowed only sideways to also flow up and down.

As semiconductors become more advanced, more transistors must fit into a limited area, leading to physical constraints. Recently, the ‘Moore’s Law,’ which states that the number of transistors integrated into semiconductor circuits doubles every two years, has faced limitations. With the VT-FET technology unveiled by Samsung Electronics and IBM, more transistors can be placed within a limited area, and transistor current waste is reduced, thereby significantly enhancing semiconductor performance.

This breakthrough allows continuous expansion of semiconductor performance beyond the limits of nanoprocessing. Practically, it enables the creation of semiconductors that allow mobile phones to be used for a week without charging the battery, and reduces power consumption and carbon emissions for high-power tasks such as cryptocurrency mining and data encryption. IBM anticipates that this technology will support the continuous expansion of low-power Internet of Things (IoT) and edge devices, and be applicable in autonomous vehicles and spacecraft.

This technology is not yet commercialized. It is the result of joint research by Samsung Electronics and IBM at the Albany Nanotech Research Complex in New York, USA, and further research is expected to follow.

Meanwhile, IBM announced that Samsung Electronics plans to produce IBM semiconductors using a 5-nanometer (nm; 1 nanometer = one billionth of a meter) process. These semiconductors are expected to be used in IBM server platforms.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.