S.Korea develop the smallest transistors

Choi Yang-kyu's team and the National Nano Feb Center at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology announced Tuesday that they co-developed a three-dimensional transistor measuring 3 nanometers in width, scientifically dubbed a "fin field effect transistor (FinFET)." the Korea Herald reported Tuesday.

The 3 nanometers of FinFET is reportedly one of the key technologies for producing terabyte-scale next-generation semiconductor devices.

The new transistor is based on a three-dimensional structure in which a "gate" surrounds two vertically standing "channels."

The breakthrough is significant in that it expanded the boundary of silicon semiconductor technologies, according to Choi's team.

The new transistor is expected to be embedded within processors, terabyte-level dynamic random access memory, static random access memory and flash memory, as well as being used for portable internet platforms, video conferences and wearable computers, the newspaper reported.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International