2. Evolution of Low-Power Design in Advanced Semiconductor Devices
The chapter discusses the evolution of low-power circuit design in semiconductor technology, highlighting key milestones from the early CMOS era to modern techniques like FinFETs and GAAFETs. As power consumption management has become critical due to increased transistor counts, various strategies have emerged to address dynamic and static power challenges. Innovations such as dynamic voltage frequency scaling, power gating, and advanced transistor designs illustrate the progression towards efficient energy usage in increasingly complex devices.
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What we have learnt
- Low-power design has transitioned from a secondary concern to a primary focus in semiconductor development.
- The evolution of technology has necessitated continuous innovation in power management techniques.
- FinFET and GAAFET technologies represent significant advancements in controlling leakage and enhancing performance.
Key Concepts
- -- CMOS
- Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor technology, known for low static power and widely used in digital logic circuits.
- -- DVFS
- Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling, a technique to reduce power consumption in electronic devices by adjusting the voltage and frequency according to the workload.
- -- Leakage Currents
- Unwanted current that flows through a semiconductor device even when it is inactive, significant in modern sub-100nm technology.
- -- FinFET
- A type of non-planar transistor that improves electrostatic control and reduces leakage in smaller technology nodes.
- -- GAAFET
- Gate-All-Around FET, an advanced transistor architecture offering better electrical characteristics than FinFETs.
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