December 30, 2011 — With 22nm CMOS in production at the end of 2011 and the manufacturing ramp continuing through the end of 2012, volume production faces numerous manufacturing and integration challenges. Application-specific requirements can lead to several integration approaches in order to achieve device performance. As such, there is an expectation that diverse architectures will be implemented in advanced 22/20nm transistor technology.

While the introduction of the first 3D (trigate) transistor based microprocessor will happen at the 22nm node, the majority of semiconductor manufacturers will focus on planar replacement gate technology. Scaled high-k based gate dielectrics are considered absolute for this node, with physical thicknesses of the deposited materials approaching 10