Advanced Research in Silicon

Nano-Technology and Tri-gate

Transistors

The Journey of Silicon from the Big

Bang to Nanotechnology to Tri-gate
Technology

AHMED Abdulrahman PG5141420

BABA Stephen
QUAINOO Emmanuel
The Journey of Silicon from the Big Bang to Nanotechnology to Tri-gate Technology

Introduction – The Silicon Element

The universe, in the current understanding, started from a single zero point of very small size

and by the action of high and infinite heat energy that humans cannot comprehend or even

imagine using the latest equipment and futuristic devices. The Zero Universe began to expand

in one direction, at a speed unknown to man that exceeds the colossal speed of light. With this

expansion, the process of creating the content of this universe and the basic physical laws

associated with it, which govern what happens and takes place in it, began. The

electromagnetic universe came after the thermal universe and the Big Bang, when heat began

to transform into energy of electromagnetic waves of constant frequency, but most of them

are of high frequency, such as: gamma rays (invisible), then electromagnetic energy began to

transform into particles of basic mass, such as: protons (positive charge), neutrons (neutral

charge), electrons (negative charge), etc. (Peebles et. al., 1994). Protons neutrons, electrons

are identical in mass, charge, size, spin, etc. Immediately after the bright atomic universe,

groups of atoms or molecules began to form. Those formed particles, which cannot be seen

with the naked eye, are called nanoparticles if the number of atoms is small (less than a

million) (Naito, Yokoyama, & Nogi, 2018). If the number of atoms is too high, a solid is formed.

The nano threshold represent the transition between what we call the atomic world and the

world of matter, and that all kinds of elements have a role in our lives, but carbon, silicon,

metals, hydrogen and oxygen (water molecule) are the most influential elements. Carbon

(supported by hydrogen and oxygen) is the basis of living organisms (human, animal, plant,

etc.), Silicon and a variety of minerals support the technical materials (rocks, minerals,
The Journey of Silicon from the Big Bang to Nanotechnology to Tri-gate Technology

building materials, glass, pottery, tools, computers, etc.), playing important role in the

continuity of the human race.

Silicon, in fact, determines the history of human civilization. Silicon has been in the midst of

every major technological leap, but it was not alone in this regard. Silicon-based nano

materials (Silicon, Silica, Silicates, and Silicides) are one of the most important components of

the nano world. So silicon is best suited to answer or understand how properties of atoms are

transformed or transferred to properties of mass and crystals. The chemistry of Silicon is very

interesting and special. In fact, its basic properties are sensitive and highly subject to change

under the influence of a variety of processes that occur naturally, or in the laboratory. This has

made silicon useful in various fields throughout history. First: As an element that cannot be

isolated naturally because it is highly reactive, it reacts with hydrogen to form Saline gas.

Oxygen urges it to form solid compounds (sand, glass, or quartz), and it connects with some

minerals to form Silicides such as gold silicide (Si-Au), and it also forms hard rocks (silicates

and clay) when in contact with oxygen and some minerals (magnesium, aluminum and iron).

At the same time. Second: The silicon crystal is an electrical semiconductor located between

the conductor and the insulator, and it dissolves some types of metals. This allows one to

create electronic devices by manipulating the conductivity and control properties of the

switch on or off, by doping those crystals or dissolving some special metals (boron, arsenic,

and phosphorous) in them. The noble and other metals, in certain proportions, can also melt

and form an alloy within silicon to produce a new compound with a melting point much lower

than either of them, and it can be used in nano and micro welding, as well as to upgrade

transistors (Eranna, 2015).

The Journey of Silicon from the Big Bang to Nanotechnology to Tri-gate Technology

The first generation computer did not rely on silicon, instead it used vacuum tube technology,

and the computer was released in 1943-1944, and it was programmed using switches and

connection boards. The computer, at the time, was the size of a room and was used in Britain

to crack German codes and win World War II. As for the current generation of computers, they

depend on Silicon, as the first Silicon transistor appeared in the late 1940s when the first

transistor made of Silicon with metal oxide was built by Muhammad Attalla and Kahing in

1960, which launched a fierce race between electronics companies, and the latest so-called

transistor revolution. And the transistor continues to underpin recent advances in computing

today. According to Riordan (n.d.) and Laws (2018), Humans have made more transistors than

any other artifact in history, with more than 13 sextillion, or 13 followed by 21 zeros. So

silicon transistors are now among the cheapest that humans have ever made, costing a

billionth of a dollar to make.

Nanotechnology and Silicon

Nanoscience breakthroughs in almost every field of science and nanotechnologies make life

easier in this era. Nanoscience and nanotechnology represent an expanding research area,

which involves structures, devices, and systems with novel properties and functions due to

the arrangement of their atoms on the 1–100 nm scale. The field was subject to a growing

public awareness and controversy in the early 2000s, and in turn, the beginnings of

commercial applications of nanotechnology. Nanotechnologies contribute to almost every

field of science, including physics, materials science, chemistry, biology, computer science, and

engineering. Notably, in recent years nanotechnologies have been applied to human health
The Journey of Silicon from the Big Bang to Nanotechnology to Tri-gate Technology

with promising results, especially in the field of cancer treatment and in the communication

industry with much emphasis on Silicon.

The prefix ‘nano’ is referred to a Greek prefix meaning ‘dwarf’ or something very small and

depicts one thousand millionth of a meter (10-9 m). Physicist Richard Feynman, is considered

the father of nanotechnology. We should distinguish between nanoscience, and

nanotechnology. Nanoscience is the study of structures and molecules on the scales of

nanometers ranging between 1 and 100 nm, and the technology that utilizes it in practical

applications such as devices etc. is called nanotechnology (Mansoori & Fauzi, 2005). The

development of nanoscience can be traced to the time of the Greeks and Democritus in the 5th

century B.C., when scientists considered the question of whether matter is continuous, and

thus infinitely divisible into smaller pieces, or composed of small, indivisible and

indestructible particles, which scientists now call atoms.

Nanotechnology is concerned to use structures by controlling their shape and size at

nanometer scale. The second issue has to do with novelty: nanotechnology must deal with

small things in a way that takes advantage of some properties because of the nanoscale

(Allhoff, 2007). The dominancy of silicon makes it special in the construction of most

transistors. Silicon is a semiconductor material used widely in everyday appliances. Silicon is

used to produce chips. These chips come in various sizes. The idea of silicon nanotechnology is

to fabricate a chip small enough to be inserted into a living cell and detect mechanical loads.

As chips evolved and so do the technology inside them. Nanochip are the smallest type of

chips.
The Journey of Silicon from the Big Bang to Nanotechnology to Tri-gate Technology

Transistors

A transistor is a device with an intermediate or variable electrical conductivity. It is used to

amplify and divert electrical currents in electronic devices. (Britannica, 2021) This is typically

done with a separate input signal that controls the flow of electricity through the transistor.

The input signal can be changed by varying its voltage. Many transistors bundled together

form an integrated circuit.

Silicon Transistors

A silicon transistor is a semiconductor made with a silicon base. It is used in a wide variety of

electronic devices, such as televisions and phones, to alter the flow of electrical current. Silicon

has largely replaced germanium in transistors because of its ability to continue operating at

high temperatures. (Doehring, 2022) The silicon transistor has other advantages over

alternative materials, such as production cost, and thus is mass-produced in industrialized

countries today. Texas Instruments, an American company, was the first to produce a silicon

transistor in 1954. Before this, transistors were made of the element germanium. Germanium

transistors worked fine at low temperatures, but had trouble at higher ones. If the transistors

heated up, too many electrons would be freed from the germanium atoms. This was a major

problem, because transistors only work with a limited number of electrons moving around.

The silicon transistor has shown much greater resistance to heat than its germanium

counterpart. There was an initial problem in the production process of the silicon transistor,

however. Raw silicon has defects in its crystal structure that would interfere with the

functioning of a transistor. Engineers had to figure out how to transform the silicon into a
The Journey of Silicon from the Big Bang to Nanotechnology to Tri-gate Technology

single crystal with a repeating atomic structure. Eventually, these techniques were developed,

and the silicon transistor was put into mass production.

In fact, using silicon to make integrated circuits proved to have other advantages, including

lower production cost and greater power handling. Rather than manufacturing transistors

individually, they are “printed” many at a time onto a silicon base. Every year, the total

number of transistors produced is many million times larger than the population of Earth.

Many billions in US Dollars (USD) are spent every year on silicon transistors.

Silicon transistors can be found in many household devices, including computers, digital

cameras and cell phones. They can also be found in some less obvious places. Automobiles,

washing machines and many coffee makers use silicon chips to process information.

Temperature-control and security devices often use chips to communicate with larger

networks, such as the network of an entire house, building or complex.

The Journey of Silicon from the Big Bang to Nanotechnology to Tri-gate Technology

Figure 1: NMOS transistor

Moore’s Law

The observation that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit (IC) doubles

about every two years is what is termed as Moore’s Law. It is an observation and projection of

a historical trend. Rather than a law of physics, it is an empirical relationship linked to gains

from experience in production. (Moore, 1965).

Moore's prediction has been used in the semiconductor industry to guide long-term planning

and to set targets for research and development, thus functioning to some extent as a self-

fulfilling prophecy. Advancements in digital electronics, such as the reduction in quality-

The Journey of Silicon from the Big Bang to Nanotechnology to Tri-gate Technology

adjusted microprocessor prices, the increase in memory capacity (RAM and flash), the

improvement of sensors, and even the number and size of pixels in digital cameras, are

strongly linked to Moore's law. These step changes in digital electronics have been a driving

force of technological and social change, productivity, and economic growth.

Industry experts have not reached a consensus on exactly when Moore's law will cease to

apply. Microprocessor architects report that semiconductor advancement has slowed

industry-wide since around 2010, below the pace predicted by Moore's law. Similarly, since

the mid-2010s, the increase in the performance of the top supercomputers has been slowing

down substantially.

Tri-gate Transistors

Since their inception in the late 1950s, planar transistors have acted as the basic building

block of microprocessors. The scaling of planar transistors requires the scaling of gate oxides

and source/drain junctions. However, as these transistor elements become harder to scale, so

does the transistor gate length. The scaling of planar transistors is getting more difficult due to

the worsening electrostatics and short-channel performance with reducing gate-length

dimension.

Intel’s 3D tri-gate transistor, also known as a triple-gate transistor, is a type of a metal–oxide–

semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) with a gate on three of its sides. (Colinge,

2008) . This employs the principle of a multigate device and the channel is surrounded by

several gates on multiple surfaces, allowing more effective suppression of "off-state" leakage

current. A triple-gate transistor was first demonstrated in 1987, by a Toshiba research team

including K. Hieda, Fumio Horiguchi and H. Watanabe. They realized that the fully depleted
The Journey of Silicon from the Big Bang to Nanotechnology to Tri-gate Technology

(FD) body of a narrow bulk Si-based transistor helped improve switching due to a lessened

body-bias effect. (Hieda, et al., 1987) In 1992, a triple-gate MOSFET was demonstrated by IBM

researcher Hon-Sum Wong.

The multiple gates also allow enhanced current in the "on" state, also known as drive current.

These advantages translate to lower power consumption and enhanced device performance.

Non-planar devices are also more compact than conventional planar transistors, enabling

higher transistor density which translates to smaller overall microelectronics.

First invented by Intel research scientists in 2002, Tri-Gate is a new way of manufacturing

transistors that the corporation will introduce with its move to 22nm logic technology late in

2011. And, what's more, they bring a whole new dimension to proceedings; the three-

dimensional Tri-Gate transistors represent a fundamental departure from the two-

dimensional planar transistor structure that has powered all consumer electronics devices to

date.
The Journey of Silicon from the Big Bang to Nanotechnology to Tri-gate Technology

Figure 2. A Trigate Transistor

Why is the Tri-gate Transistor needed?

Without the new transistors, it would have been difficult for Intel to continue to uphold

Moore's Law. This is the 1965 theory by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore that the number of

transistors in a given area would double every two years, with increased functionality and

reduced cost. Intel says its scientists have long recognized the benefits of a 3D structure for

sustaining the pace of Moore's Law as device dimensions become so small that physical laws

become barriers to advancement – as process technology has got smaller, problems such as

current leakage have needed to be dealt with.

Intel says there's a "dramatic performance gain at low operating voltage" – thanks to far

reduced current leakage. Indeed, this translates to a 37 per cent performance increase at low

voltage versus Intel's 32nm planar transistors and under a 50 per cent power reduction with

constant performance.
The Journey of Silicon from the Big Bang to Nanotechnology to Tri-gate Technology

Basically, the new transistors consume less than half the power when at the same

performance as 2D planar transistors on 32nm chips.

Better control over the transistor gate enables as much transistor current flowing as possible

when the transistor is in the 'on' state for performance, and as close to zero as possible when

it is in the 'off' state to reduce power. The new transistors will also have better ability to be

turned on and off to save power when they're not needed.

The Journey of Silicon from the Big Bang to Nanotechnology to Tri-gate Technology

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