IBM Unveils World’s First Sub-1 Nanometer Chip Technology
IBM has introduced what it describes as the world’s first sub-1 nanometer chip technology, marking a major step toward the angstrom era of semiconductor innovation. The company developed a new three-dimensional transistor architecture called “nanostack,” which aims to redefine how future processors are built.
The prototype measures 0.7 nanometers, or 7 angstroms, and fits nearly 100 billion transistors onto a chip the size of a fingernail. As a result, it offers almost twice the transistor density of the company’s 2 nm chip introduced in 2021. Moreover, IBM says the new design provides up to 50% higher performance or 70% greater energy efficiency than its previous 2 nm architecture. It also improves SRAM scaling by 40%, which benefits memory-intensive artificial intelligence workloads.
Vertical Transistor Design Improves Efficiency
Instead of placing transistors on a single flat layer, the nanostack architecture arranges them vertically in a staggered layout. Engineers first build transistors on a silicon base, then add another silicon layer before constructing a second transistor tier. Finally, they connect both layers with advanced wiring.
Additionally, the upper transistors sit slightly offset from those below. According to IBM, this design improves wiring efficiency and alignment at atomic-scale dimensions.
Researchers identify this approach as a variation of the complementary field-effect transistor (CFET) concept, according to Qing Cao, a materials science professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who was not involved in the project.
“This isn’t merely a minor advancement; it’s a significant progression,” Jay Gambetta, who leads IBM Research, said during a press briefing. He predicted that within a decade, chips featuring nanostacking will become prevalent in data centers.
Commercial Production Still Years Away
Although the breakthrough represents a significant research milestone, it is not yet ready for commercial manufacturing. IBM expects mass production of the sub-1 nm technology to remain about five years away. Meanwhile, the company plans to license the design for GPUs, CPUs, and other processor types.
Previously, IBM licensed semiconductor technologies to Samsung and Japanese foundry Rapidus, which is working with the company to scale 2 nm chip production by 2027. However, IBM has not announced a manufacturing partner for the new 0.7 nm technology.
The announcement strengthens IBM’s position in angstrom-level semiconductor research, where transistor dimensions approach the size of individual atoms. Meanwhile, today’s most advanced commercial chips generally operate at the 2 to 3 nanometer range.
