IBM develops chip manufacturing process below 1 nanometre

IBM has presented a chip manufacturing process that comes in below the 1-nanometre threshold. The process measures 0.7 nanometres, also expressed as 7 angstroms. This marks the first time a chipmaker has demonstrated a working fabrication process at this scale.

The key to this miniaturisation is a new transistor architecture that IBM calls 'nanostack'. Rather than placing transistors side by side, they are stacked vertically and offset in a three-dimensional design. This represents a step beyond the nanosheet technology IBM used for its 2-nanometre chip in 2021.

For the time being, this is purely a research result. IBM does not expect chips based on this process to appear in consumer products before 2030.

Transistor density nearly doubled compared to 2 nm

With the new technology, a chip the size of a fingernail can accommodate nearly 100 billion transistors, roughly twice as many as on IBM's 2-nanometre chip. More transistors per unit area generally translates to higher computing performance or lower energy consumption at equivalent performance levels.

IBM expects chips based on the nanostack architecture to deliver up to 50 percent more computing performance compared to 2-nanometre chips, or, at equivalent performance, to be up to 70 percent more energy-efficient. Which of the two benefits takes precedence depends on the application for which a chip is designed.

According to IBM, the nanostack architecture offers at least ten years of headroom for further scaling, suggesting that the approach could also serve as the basis for even later chip generations.

Research in Albany, production via partners

The research takes place at IBM's semiconductor research facility in Albany, New York, the Albany NanoTech Complex. There, IBM collaborates with equipment suppliers Lam Research, Tokyo Electron and SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions on new processes and tools for High NA EUV lithography. The facility will soon also commission a High NA EUV machine from the Dutch company ASML.

IBM sold its commercial chip manufacturing operations to GlobalFoundries in 2014 and has since focused on research and development. Actual fabrication of chips based on IBM technology is left to industrial partners. For the commercialisation of the nanostack architecture, IBM is looking to parties such as Samsung, Intel and Japanese company Rapidus.

Rapidus is already working with IBM on the further development of its 2-nanometre technology for its own factory in Japan. Scientists and engineers from Rapidus are present at the Albany complex for this purpose. Intel also has a collaboration with IBM in the field of advanced semiconductor research.

Investment commitment of 20 billion dollars

IBM has made an investment commitment of 20 billion dollars for its operations in the Hudson Valley, covering semiconductor research, mainframe technology and quantum computing. The announcement of the sub-1-nanometre process falls within that broader programme.

Jay Gambetta, Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow, and Huiming Bu, Vice President of IBM's semiconductor division and responsible for operations in Albany, were involved in the presentation of the new technology.

What this means for the semiconductor industry

The presentation of a sub-1-nanometre process is primarily a scientific result, not the announcement of a product coming to market in the near term. Nevertheless, it outlines the direction in which the semiconductor industry is heading over the coming years, and the architectural choices being made along the way.

For Europe and the Netherlands in particular, the role of ASML is highly relevant. IBM's facility in Albany will commission a High NA EUV machine from ASML, the most advanced lithography system currently available. The nanostack architecture requires more precise exposure techniques for the three-dimensional stacking of transistors, which is expected to further increase demand for such equipment. Chipmakers and suppliers in Europe focused on the next generation of semiconductor processes are therefore closely monitoring this type of research announcement.