CNT wrap-gate transistors could extend transistor performance scaling

(Phys.org) —Throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s, transistor performance continually increased according to some simple scaling rules. These rules postulate that transistor size and supply voltage should decrease as power density remains constant, resulting in an overall increase in performance. However, physical limitations stopped supply voltage scaling in the early 2000s, so the simple scaling rules no longer apply. Now any increase in performance comes at the cost of an increase in power consumption, so that transistor performance has leveled off since the mid-2000s.