Intel to ship 45nm Core 2 chips by end of year

Well double-digit could mean 10%.

So, I actually had to ask a buddy who used to sell semiconductor equipment to explain why a high-k dielectric is important. His response:

"K is the dielectric constant - you might remember something about that from AP Physics in high school. High K means high resistance. The idea is that you only want current to flow in the desired direction in a transistor - leakage current causes heat, which means that power is being lost. High-k helps reduce leakage current."

To put it another way, switching to a high-k dielectric is like switching from paper insulation on electrical wire to rubber or glass, with better insulating qualities.

"The technology effort was led by Mark T. Bohr, a longtime Intel physicist..."

With a name like Bohr, I guess you're pretty much destined to become a physicist.

#1 -- Robert, thanks for letting us know, that's worth a separate post!

#2 -- you're right, it's a halfnium oxide high-k dielectric with a metal gate above it. Diagram at

http://www.intel.com/technology/silicon/pix/hk_mg_transistors.jpg

It's hafnium oxide not hafnium metal

I have a video tour of the 45 nm fab at Intel up here: http://scobleizer.com/2007/01/26/getting-a-look-at-intels-new-45nm-fab/