Intel's 3D transistor Tri-Gate to be available in India by year-end

Intel's revolutionary three dimensional transistor, the Tri-Gate, based on Intel's 22-nanometer chip technology, will be available in the Indian market later this year or early next year.

Intel will be using the 3D transistor in all its product lines, from high-end server chips to the tiny, low-power processors, including the Atom-embedded processor, R Ravichandran, director (sales), Intel South Asia, said.

The 22nm 3-D Tri-Gate transistors provide up to 37 per cent improvement in performance at low voltage compared to Intel's 32nm planar transistors.

This will make it ideal for use in small handheld devices, which operate using less energy to "switch" back and forth. Alternatively, the new transistors consume less than half the power when at the same performance as 2-D planar transistors on 32nm chips.

The three-dimensional Tri-Gate transistors represent a fundamental departure from the two-dimensional planar transistor structure that has powered not only all computers, mobile phones and consumer electronics to-date, but also the electronic controls within cars, spacecraft, household appliances, medical devices and virtually thousands of other everyday devices for decades.

The Tri-Gate transistors forming conducting channels on three sides of a vertical 'fin' structure would provide a 50 per cent power reduction at constant performance, improved switching characteristics and a higher drive current for a given transistor footprint, Ravichandran said.

Intel also plans to release 'the 2nd generation Intel Core processor family, which also would be released in market in January next.

The new processor delivered better performance automatically for any visual PC experience, whether for digital media, gaming, play or everyday tasks, Ravichandran claimed.