According
to a new study, the theory electrical engineers have been using to design
transistors is inadequate. Engineers have to think about noise when designing these
tiny electrical switches; defects in the materials used to make them can disrupt
the flow of electrons, causing them to appear to fluctuate between on and off
states. The current theory predicts that as transistors get smaller, these
fluctuations increase in frequency. Now researchers at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) say this simply isn’t true.
The so-called elastic-tunneling model has worked well for a long time. However,
the NIST researchers found that tinier transistors aren’t necessarily more
error prone. That sounds like a good thing, but the researchers say it
indicates a poor understanding of how transistors work in the first place. This
lack of understanding could be problematic as engineers continue to miniaturize
transistors in order to make cheaper, more powerful mobile devices.
The researchers found that while the fluctuation frequency doesn’t increase
with miniaturization, it does increase as devices run out of power. This means
that chips designed to run longer on less power will become more unreliable
over time–a real problem for those hoping to install these chips in
implantable medical devices like pacemakers.
These findings were presented at the IEEE International Conference on Integrated Circuit Design and
Technology
this week in Austin,
TX.