The relentless miniaturisation of semiconductor transistors

Position 1: Engineers are consequently exploring alternative architectures, including three-dimensional chip stacking and novel materials such as gallium nitride, to sustain progress beyond the limits of conventional silicon scaling.

Position 2: This exponential scaling allowed manufacturers to deliver ever-greater processing power at progressively lower cost, enabling technologies from personal computers to smartphones.

Position 3: The relentless miniaturisation of semiconductor transistors has been the principal engine of computing progress for more than half a century.

Position 4: However, as transistor dimensions approach the atomic scale, quantum tunnelling effects cause current leakage that undermines both performance and energy efficiency.

Position 5: Gordon Moore observed in 1965 that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubled approximately every two years, a pattern that subsequently became known as Moore's Law.