Overview
GAAFET is the successor to FinFET. Instead of a vertical fin, the channel consists of horizontal 'nanosheets' or 'nanowires' that are completely surrounded by the gate material.
Key Benefits
- Ultimate Control: Surrounding the channel on all four sides provides the best possible electrostatic control.
- Scalability: Allows for further shrinking of transistors beyond the limits of FinFET (3nm node and below).
- Variable Width: Nanosheet width can be adjusted to trade off power and performance within the same design.
Industry Status
Samsung was the first to implement GAAFET (branded as MBCFET) at the 3nm node. Intel (RibbonFET) and TSMC are adopting it for their upcoming advanced nodes.