E2CDA: Type I: Collaborative Research: A Fast 70mV Transistor Technology for Ultra-Low-Energy Computing

包含数十亿个晶体管开关的微处理器是个人电脑、手机、回答我们互联网搜索的计算机服务器以及模拟天气和设计新药和飞机的超级计算机的核心。现代机械都是由微处理器控制的，一辆普通的汽车使用50个微处理器。 经过50年的快速改进，自2000年以来，进展停滞不前，主要是因为晶体管在切换时消耗太多能量。 随着晶体管被做得更小，更适合在芯片上，消耗的能量增加。电池很快耗尽，芯片变热。减慢开关速度可以减少热量，但软件运行缓慢。在这个项目中，将研究一种新的晶体管设计。如果成功，这些晶体管将消耗100倍的开关能量，从而实现更快，更强大的芯片。挑战在于电源电压;将电压降低2：1可将开关能量降低4：1。 在1990年至2005年间，电压从5伏降至1伏。不幸的是，对于正常的（MOS）晶体管开关，低于~0.7伏，晶体管的开关变得不完美，晶体管不能完全关闭。 这种有限的关断状态漏电流增加了能量消耗，因此不可能提供远低于0.7伏的电压。十年前，人们提出了隧道晶体管，因为即使电源低至0.3 V，这些晶体管也可以几乎完全关闭。不幸的是，隧道晶体管不能很好地导通，因此使用它们的微处理器运行缓慢。如果电源电压降到0.1伏，这种限制会变得更糟。 本计划将研究一种新的设计，三异质结隧道晶体管。这增加了半导体结层，使导通电流增加了100：1。如果成功的话，快速切换的微处理器即使在0.07V电源下也是可行的，并且消耗的能量仅为当今技术的1%。

Microprocessors containing billions of transistor switches are at the heart of PCs, cell phones, computer servers answering our internet searches, and supercomputers modeling the weather and designing new drugs and aircraft. Modern machinery is controlled by microprocessors; a typical car uses 50. After 50 years of rapid improvement, since 2000 progress has stalled, primarily because the transistors consume too much energy when they switch. As transistors are made smaller, more fit on a chip, and the energy consumed increases. The battery is drained quickly and chip becomes hot. Slowing the switching reduces heating, but then the software runs slowly. In this program, a new transistor design will be investigated. If successful, these transistors will consume 100 times less switching energy, allowing faster, more powerful chips. The challenge is the power supply voltage; reducing the voltage by 2:1 reduces the switching energy 4:1. Between ~1990-2005, voltages were reduced from 5 to 1 Volt. Unfortunately, with normal (MOS) transistor switches, below ~0.7 Volts the transistor's switching becomes imperfect, with the transistor not turning completely off. This finite off-state leakage current increases energy consumption, hence it has not been possible to supplies much below 0.7 Volts. Ten years ago, tunnel transistors were proposed, as these can turn off nearly completely even at supplies as low as 0.3 Volts. Unfortunately, tunnel transistors do not turn on well, and microprocessors using them will therefore operate slowly. This limitation becomes much worse if the supply is dropped to 0.1 Volts. This program will research a new design, the triple-heterojunction tunnel transistor. This has added semiconductor junction layers which increased the on-current by as much as 100:1. If successful, rapidly-switching microprocessors will be feasible with even a 0.07V supply, and would consume as little as 1% of the energy of today's technology.