28-nm Technology

[Altera_Forum]

Hello, 

 When talking about 28-nm Technology and 40-nm Technology, what is the significance? Is it just that it's smaller?  Thanks.

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  Hello,  When talking about 28-nm Technology and 40-nm Technology, what is the significance? Is it just that it's smaller?  Thanks.  --- Quote End ---    Yes it is primarily size reduction but I believe it also implies higher possible speed as delay paths get shorter

[Altera_Forum]

And don't forget lower power consumption!

[Altera_Forum]

Why does a smaller chip imply lower power consumption?

[Altera_Forum]

Smaller transistor needs less energy for switching.

[Altera_Forum]

To add to this conversation: the 28nm length is referred to as the feature size or the smallest part of the transistor for the die to resolve. This is also usually the same size at the gate length since decreasing the gate length is the name of the game in the transistor industry. In other words it's the limiting factor for manufacturing the transistor. As far as power consumption goes, while transistors decrease by half you increase the transistor density by four which tends to scale your power per unit area and consequently you get an increase in heat. 

 That being said, nowadays with current lithography techniques some clever tricks are used to for example use a 28nm die to make a 14nm features. That is the reason there is a lot of confusion by the definitions as of late.  "The end is nigh" - says Silicon =)