Proof Point
Transistor size predicted to shrink to five nanometers by 2021, a dramatic reduction from 10,000 nanometers in 1971
Microprocessor Transistor Size
1971 – 2021F (nanometers, logarithmic scale)
| Note: | Transistors are building blocks of integrated circuits, such as computer processors. They act as switches "on" or "off" ("1" or "0"), and form logic gates to perform operations. Nanometer is equivalent to one billionth of a meter or 10-9. Atoms and molecules, the smallest pieces of everything around us, are measured in nanometers. A water molecule is less than one nanometer, hair is about 100,000 nanometers wide. |
Proof Point Findings
- Basic Electrical Component – Transistors are building blocks of integrated circuits, such as computer processors, that act as switches (on or off, 1 or 0), and form logic gates to perform operations
- Nanometer – Equivalent to one billionth of a meter; for context, a strand of hair is about 100,000 nanometers wide
- Shrinking Transistor – Forecasted to shrink by 2,000 times to five nanometers in 2021, from 10,000 nanometers 50 years ago
- Influence of Moore's Law – Transistor size parallels Moore's Law, in that to fit twice as many transistors in a central processing chip every two years, transistors keep getting smaller
- Future Transistors – Transistors 10 nanometers and smaller may be made of new materials other than silicon, such as graphene, carbon nanotubes and germanium, have new shapes, and/or employ new manufacturing processes
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Date Last Updated |
February 10, 2017
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