The evolution of field effect transistors: from MOSFETs to GAAFETs in the Angstrom era

The evolution of field effect transistors: from MOSFETs to GAAFETs in the Angstrom era

The semiconductor industry stands at the precipice of a revolutionary transformation as it transitions from traditional nanometer (nm)-scale manufacturing to the angstrom era, where transistor features are measured in units smaller than individual atoms. This evolution encompasses the development of increasingly sophisticated field-effect transistor architectures, from the foundational metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors to the cutting-edge gate-all-around field-effect transistors, representing decades of engineering innovation aimed at sustaining Moore's Law. The angstrom scale, equivalent to 0.1 nanometers or one ten-billionth of a meter, has emerged as the new frontier for semiconductor device fabrication, with industry leaders like  TSMC, Intel and Samsung making chips in 20-angstrom manufacturing nodes in year 2025. This technological progression enables the integration of billions of transistors onto single chips, dramatically enhancing computational performance while reducing power consumption, ultimately supporting the demanding requirements of artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and advanced networking ap...