The end of CMOS scaling

Abstract

The rapid cadence of metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) scaling, as seen in the new 2003 International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors ITRS), is accelerating introduction of new technologies to extend complementary MOS (CMOS) down to, and perhaps beyond, the 22-nm node. This acceleration simultaneously requires the industry to intensify research on two highly challenging thrusts: one is scaling CMOS into an increasingly difficult manufacturing domain well below the 90-nm node for high performance (HP), low operating power (LOP), and low standby power (LSTP) applications, and the other is an exciting opportunity to invent fundamentally new approaches to information and signal processing to sustain functional scaling beyond the domain of CMOS. This article is focused on scaling CMOS to its fundamental limits, determined by manufacturing, physics, and costs using new materials and nonclassical structures. This paper provides a brief introduction to each of the new nonclassical CMOS structures. This is followed by a presentation of one scenario for introduction of new structural changes to the MOSFET to scale CMOS to the end of the ITRS. A brief review of electrostatic scaling of a MOSFET necessary to manage short channel effects (SCEs) at the most advanced technology nodes is also provided.