IBM has announced the partnership with GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Samsung at SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (SUNY Poly CNSE), that it has produced the first 7 nanometer (nm) node test chips with functioning transistors.

One of the 7nm test chips. Image source: IBMIBM says this breakthrough means more than 20 billion tiny switches—transistors—could be placed on the fingernail-sized chips that power everything from smartphones to spacecraft.

Researchers have abandoned the conventional semiconductor manufacturing approaches in order to achieve a higher performance level—they used Silicon Germanium (SiGe) channel transistors and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography integration at multiple levels instead.

According to IBM, industry experts believe that the 7nm technology is crucial in meeting the anticipated demands of future cloud computing and Big Data systems, cognitive computing, mobile products and other emerging technologies.

“For business and society to get the most out of tomorrow’s computers and devices, scaling to 7nm and beyond is essential,” says Arvind Krishna, senior vice president and director of IBM Research. “That’s why IBM has remained committed to an aggressive basic research agenda that continually pushes the limits of semiconductor technology. Working with our partners, this milestone builds on decades of research that has set the pace for the microelectronics industry, and positions us to advance our leadership for years to come.”

Microprocessors utilizing 22nm and 14nm technology power today’s servers, cloud data centers and mobile devices, and 10nm technology is well on the way to becoming a mature technology.

The IBM Research-led alliance says they have achieved close to 50% area scaling improvements compared to the current most advanced technology. They have also introduced SiGe channel material for transistor performance enhancement at 7nm node geometries, process innovations to stack them below 30nm pitch and full integration of EUV lithography at multiple levels.

There could be at least a 50% power and performance improvement for next generation mainframe and POWER systems that power big data, cloud and mobile technology.

“Governor Andrew Cuomo’s trailblazing public-private partnership model is catalyzing historic innovation and advancement. Today’s announcement is just one example of our collaboration with IBM, which furthers New York State’s global leadership in developing next generation technologies,” says Dr. Michael Liehr, SUNY Poly Executive vice president of Innovation and Technology and vice president of IBM Research. “Enabling the first 7nm node transistors is a significant milestone for the entire semiconductor industry as we continue to push beyond the limitations of our current capabilities.”

This research is part of IBM’s $3 billion, five-year investment in chip R&D.