Newswise — In May, Intel announced the most dramatic change to the architecture of the transistor since the device was invented. From now on, the company will build its transistors in three dimensions, a shift that--if all goes well--should add at least a half dozen years to the life of Moore's Law, the biennial doubling in transistor density that has driven the chip industry for decades.
But chipmakers don't have to invest in 3-D to keep shrinking transistors. An alternative design could keep planar transistors in the game for a while longer. This rival architecture is so well matched against the 3-D transistor, it could very well split the chip industry into two camps.
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