Beyond CMOS

Beyond CMOS refers to the possible future digital logic technologies beyond the scaling limits of CMOS technology. which limits device density and speeds due to heating effects.

Beyond CMOS is the name of one of the 7 focus groups in ITRS 2.0 (2013) and in its successor, the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems.

CPUs using CMOS were released from 1986 (e.g. 12 MHz Intel 80386). As CMOS transistor dimensions were shrunk the clock speeds also increased. Since about 2004 CMOS CPU clock speeds have leveled off at about 3.5 GHz.

CMOS devices sizes continue to shrink – see Intel tick–tock and ITRS:

• 22 nanometer Ivy Bridge in 2012
• first 14 nanometer processors shipped in Q4 2014.
• In May 2015, Samsung Electronics showed a 300 mm wafer of 10 nanometer FinFET chips.

It is not yet clear if CMOS transistors will still work below 3 nm. See 3 nanometer.