Catching a single Transistor - Looking inside the i9-9900K: A single 14nm++ Trigate Transistor (3/3) 

You should've compared 14nm transistors to something like the old school pentium 4 transistors I think it would be cool to see how far we've come since

It's incredible that things this tiny can be manufactured accurately, let alone as quickly and cheaply as they are.

A desktop-sized device thats able to almost distinguish single atoms? What a time to be alive...

The quality and depth of content of this channel is beyond anything else I've ever seen . Thank you Roman ...

I love how he is looking at a modern next-gen high end cpu through a windows xp era computer.

I shared this video to my dad who studied electronic in Cuba and he was blown back in the early 80’s transistors “Transistors were the size of a corn grain” He cried.

It amazes me that we are even able to view - let alone create and mass-produce - working things at such a tiny level.

This is an exceptional series thank you for the time you put in producing them & everyone who worked with you, it really is amazing how small Intel are producing CPU's. I wish educational videos like this where more popular on RU-vid, the top views are such junk lately I’d much rather learn something with you than watch somebody going through the same drive thru 1,000 times or filling swimming pools with orbeez. Keep doing your thing man its awesome

I would love to see you do a series on the actual manufacturing of a cpu. great stuff here.

This was every bit as incredible as I thought it would be, thank you so much not only to Roman, but also to the team working with the TEM for taking the time to help produce this awesome series. I take my hat off to the thousands of engineers, scientists, and mathematicians (of all disciplines) who work to create something as complex as a CPU and do it at a scale that is both massive in numbers produced, and microscopic in size. It really drives home how hard it must be to get anything to work even once at this scale, nevermind every day for decades without issue, especially when you consider that you can almost count the number of atoms between the fingers of the transistor. Mind = blown.

I find it rather interesting that there is copper within the transistor structure itself. Last I checked, copper formed deep level traps that stops a transistor from working. I would hazer to guess that the perpetration of the lameller contaminate the contents, though the copper spike is tiny and likely negligible, considering how the molybdenum spike is nearly similar, despite being very far away, unless Intel has molybdenum in their processors, but I don't see much reason for that. (Though, could be a molybdenum nitride diffusion barrier.) The holes is likely a result from a deposition process, the air pockets have a lower dielectric constant then the solid material, so this could minimize cross talk, and they seem like they are placed in every logical location too, might though still be a manufacturing fluke, though this is 14nm+++ so could be intentional, and it would lower power consumption by a bit, due to less capacitance to charge/discharge, this would also improve switching times by a fraction as well, and that air isn't going to be electrically conductive, so we don't need to worry about that. (Though, it does technically lower thermal conductivity through the chip by a very tiny bit, but this is negligible.) Also nice to see a tungsten layer close to the transistors, since the first layer of interconnects that goes from the transistors and up to the larger layers of interconnects is typically made of tungsten, and not copper. The reason for this is that copper is poison as far as transistors are concerned. (Tungsten too technically.) But the rate of diffusion for tungsten is practically non existent compared to copper. Also tungsten has fairly low electrical resistance, and is easy to work with, making it the ideal metal for interconnects, other then aluminium. Aluminium is a semiconductor in silicone, its diffusion doesn't technically matter as a result of that (though, it does slightly effect the analog performance of the semiconductors, so precision analog chips do need a long baking period for this diffusion to "finish".), and it has lower electrical resistance then tungsten, it is also way cheaper to work with compared to copper. (it etches nicer then copper, doesn't need a CMP process step, and doesn't need diffusion barriers.) Aluminium has therefor got a foothold in the industry as the go to interconnect material, with exceptions to high power density devices like, Power mosfets, CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs, and such. But the difference in resistance is though only a couple of percent. And spreading out the power pins over as much of the chip area as possible can result in aluminium being satisfactory even for high power density applications, since the PCB/chip carrier typically has superior current carrying capacity. But spending pins so frivolously might not always be possible. (as in pins on the chip surface, not in the socket.) Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the 2nd and 3rd layer of interconnects are made of aluminium and not copper, just to improve yields, tungsten could be used instead for yield reasons, but it would negatively impact power efficiency, but I would need more information to know for sure. (Though the TEM image would state against it being aluminium already, due to aluminium to my knowledge being a bit lighter in color compared to tungsten and copper. (tungsten and copper is though almost identical to my limited knowledge, so it could still be tungsten for more then just the first layer of interconnects. (I after all study semiconductor/CPU design/manufacturing and electronics, not Transmission Electron Microscopy, so I have no clue if the second layer is copper or tungsten. But it is likely not aluminium.))) Now I only hope this text wall is informative...

Now I don't feel as bad for spending $500 on a 3900x...

Omg, I've been hanging for this video, Thank you very much for bringing us this great content.

One of the most interesting series of videos about CPUs I've watched in a long long time. It's like watching videos about the vastness of the universe for the first time, because the complexity of a single chip in such a small space is a testament to humanity's ingenuity. And the fact we have the ability to view things at such a small scale makes it even more epic!

It's insane to nearly see the Atoms or the Atom Pillar Structure.

I really appreciate you sharing your passion with us, this series was well worth the time and effort, thank you.

Absolutely loved this series! Fantastic quality, and the most fascinating thing I've watched in a very long time. Thanks Roman!

The tri-gate transistor looks like a dental xray. :D Amazing work and video!

Thank you Der Bauer! This is a great little series. The community wants more!

This series will be watched and referenced for years to come. Mark my words.

I really enjoyed this series, Roman. Thank you so much for sharing this information with us. Now I have a completely different vision and respect for modern CPUs. Thanks to everyone involved. Great content!

Amazing work. Thank you for the great insights and the chance to see more of the microprocessors. Btw, so refreshing to see a tech channel to promote international students, just loving it. Greetings from Mexiko.

First of all. Congratulations, this series was incredible. Second, I already have so many new questions after seeing this. For example: how does that 4-prong transistor actually work; what would be a size comparison between a "7nm" transistor and this, or on the other side an older, bigger transistor. I have to say I found your channel because of extreme overclocking but this is now my favorite type of content here. Amazing work!

Really loved the series, Roman. Keep it coming!

Next level content Thank you Roman!

As others have said, this is an amazing series! Your in depth coverage is awesome. But the fact you do everything in TWO languages, so more people can enjoy it...

8:50 So... that's what your x-rays from your dentist look like, eh? Interesting... * takes slow steps away*... *grabs a head of garlic and a wooden stake *

Amazing series !!! Thank you for showing this in such an amazing detail an scale!

Oh man, thanks for all of this. It is nice to see this kind of video with such detail! Brutal!

Regarding the holes between copper wires - if I remember correctly, this is one of the technologies that were introduced with Intel 14nm (or it's + version). The holes are supposed to serve as isolation and improve signal quality (better signal quality = higher frequencies). I know there was an article on WikiChip, were they stated that Intel 10nm isn't using this technology as opposed to 14nm (or 14nm+) Intel. They speculated that Intel could reintroduce it with 10nm+.

Explained clearly with great footage. Well done & thank you.

How could you possibly dislike this video. This is the peak of human invention. This is the coolest thing ive seen maybe ever. DerBauer, thank you.

Excellent videos Roman, thanks heaps for this journey into the 9900k.

That was awesome your channel is so cool thanks for all the great content, my friends and I frequently enjoy it :)

Absolutely fantastic work der8auer!

Thank you! That is the best video about processors l’ve ever seen!

Technology has always been a passion much like engineering and I have enjoyed this 3 party. I have actually done something similar at my office since we have an SEM. I just picked up some silicon wafers from eBay and we ran 1 through it a year ago. It now makes for an excellent presentation piece during bring your children to work day.

This is just fascinating👌👏 With a lot of respect and greetings, Dennis 🇳🇱

Fantastic video! Makes our SEM analysis device look archaic! Thanks again.

Absolutely amazing content! No one makes it quite like Roman, proper geek stuff I love

Thanks for the video, we take it for granted how far we've come!

To actually fully understand how SMALL these things are... brain TDP limit reached So nice content I really like these series. The work you put into this (and other involved/the whole team) it is just GREAT!!! Thank you for this video!

Such a great video....keep up the effort..

This is why you're one of the best! No one brings this kind of content. :)

Absolutely magnificent job der8

I had the honor of working for SIEMENS here in the USA in the medical systems division for about 24 years. I met many German technicians from the factory in Erlangen and I enjoyed working with all of them during my career. I enjoyed their broken English accent and the attention to detail and their knowledge and the determination they had to get our problems solved. It is a please to have this very intelligent young man show and describe the technology of the test object and the terrific function of the scanning microscope. Thank you very much for this amazing and impressive video and I have subscribed to reflect my pleasure.

10/10! These were amazing to watch. Thank youuuu!

Absolutely... Incredible.... Just wow.... Thanks Roman :) This really does blow my mind.

One of the most fascinating series I've ever seen.

WOW! Amazing and we take it for granted! Great Video Series

Amazing work done 👍🏼

I had a chance to work with intel's semiconductor technology so its quite interesting to see what it looks like after being manufactured, super cool video

This is absolutely mind-blowing !!! I'd have loved to work on that, if I'd been given the possibility. Respect !

Extremely amazing! We are waiting for Zen2 slicing to the atoms!

That is so interesting. So glad you explained it. Thank you.

If you counted each transistor in a 9900K at a rate of 1 transistor per second it would take you 669.07661085743 YEARS!!!!! To count them all.

Thanks for that. This is really amazing and something we would never see outside a college class or the fabs itself. Too bad we don't have an in depth like this in the manufacturing of a CPU only the slices of a alreadly made cpu.

Amazing. thank you so much for curing my curiosity!!!!!!

Amazing. Thanks for this. My mind is just blown.

This is way cool!!! Thank you for sharing this!

It looks amazing, please make a Ryzen 7nm next to see the difference on how it's constructed and a size comparison side-by-side with the 9900K would be so damn cool.

Fascinating stuff...thumbs up man.

Thanks Roman , amazing series , i mean AMAZING FOR REAL !!! Maybe a continuation to these series would be to take a look at TSMCs 7nm an compare it to Intel 14nm trigate . Best regards mate keep up this great content .

Awesome little series you made! Very nice nanoscopic view into what everyone is talking about on a macroscopic level :) Also shows nicely how high tech this stuff is. Just looking at the irregularities of the fins of that transistor and the near-atomic scale shows how impressive it is that we (as mankind) can do this and still regularly improve it. To explain simply how a TEM works, it basically images by whether or not (and how much) electrons pass through a specimen. That's why you need such a small lamella because otherwise, none would pass (practically). Because the wavelength of electrons is so much smaller than that of a (visible or near-visible) photon, it allows for atom scale imaging. Also, the lenses are electromagnetic (i.e. magnets), which is something a lot of people don't realise is possible. Must say that's a nice modern TEM they got there. Our TEM at the University of Twente is something about 30 or 40 years old already XD Hooray for science!

Wir sind stolz auf dich Roman, weiter so👍💚

Best youtube series of all time

Those "holes" are intentional in the design, and are referred to as "airgaps" in the industry. Since a void is more insulative/has a lower k-value than than traditional insulator, using this "airgap" will provide improved capacitance between the lines, which is especially important when they are so close together.

Absolutely amazing. I would love love LOVE to sit with the engineers who designed the manufacturing process. Show me the equipment and how it's made!

What miracles humanity can create with the right motivations. Thank you for these amazing videos.

WOW!11 Thank you so much!!! I am a Chemical Engineering Student in Seattle and have just been put through the ringer on intermolecular forces and watching this is so satisfying to see the molecules in that manner. It all so incredible what we humans can do.

One of your best videos. More! More! More!

Thank you Roman for doing this series. Fascinating! Did you use the 3D glasses that were laying on the monitor stand behind you in the final scene? ;)

Crazy that man can make the processor being viewed as well as the equipment used to view it! That microscope is badass

Very cool to see inside the CPU like this. Thanks Roman :)

thank you for sharing, this is so amazing!

I watched 5 minutes only to realize this is the almighty der8auer himself

Excellent video, love it.

I hope this can be a series and we can look into CPUs of different process node, GPUs, RAM, FLASH, microcontrollers, etc.

awesome mini series

Thank you for this. Really. I'm speechless.

His first word and i already know hes german

Sick video, subbed.

So educational Great, please more content like this. Danke sehr.

This might be one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Looking at a single transistor, 44 FREAKING NANO METERS wide, is unbelievable to me. The fact that we can even make things that small, nevermind pack literally billions of them in accurately and with purpose, is crazy in all conceivable senses of the word.

There's something really funky going on with these dental records.

around 03:50 woww great shot, those background artifices are stunning sometimes.

amazing video ! thanks for sharing

I really want to see the same way a 7nm CPU like Ryzen!!!

Very well done sir

Imo modern chip manufacturing is one of humanity’s greatest technological achievements. The fact that we can manufacture transistors that once took up the space of a lightbulb at a size where you can almost make out the individual molecules in it, put BILLIONS of them into a tiny chip the size of a fingernail, and then sell the complete product for sometimes less than 100 dollars. absolutely amazing.

Amazing video!

Really cool look into the small world

Amazing, thank you!

Nice one Mr. Der8auer. 👍 Great bit of science to get the grey matter resonating. 😁

Absolutely beautiful. I am in awe.

1:25 The satisfied look of professor when you answer correctly.

Amazing stuff ! You should do the same for a ryzen 3000 and compare transistor size/density. Or even an older intel cpu to see how much changes from a generation to an another.

I can barely wrap my mind around this. Do Zen 2 next.

Now take apart and look inside a "7nm" Ryzen CPU :-D

Very high quality content Roman. Can you tell us what part is the 14nm? I didn't see any feature of the tri-gate transistor that was 14nm.