IBM’s joint development partners that include Chartered
Semiconductor, Freescale, Infineon, Samsung, STMicroelectronics and
Toshiba Corporation - but not AMD in this case - have touted
performance and low-power consumption results from 32nm high-k/metal
gate (HKMG) test chips produced at IBM's East Fishkill, N.Y. 300mm fab.
IBM said that its alliance partners have all seen performance
improvements on 32nm technology circuits of up to 35 percent over 45nm
technology circuits at the same operating voltage. Power reductions of
between 30 and 50 percent were also demonstrated.
“These
early high-k/metal gate results demonstrate that by working together we
can deliver leading-edge technologies that handily surpass others in
the industry,” said Gary Patton, Vice President for IBM's Semiconductor
Research and Development Center on behalf of the technology alliance.
"Demonstrating this caliber of result in a practical environment means
that as our collective client base moves to next-generation technology
by using the 'gate-first' approach, they will continue to maintain a
significant competitive advantage.”