【Semiconductor】🚀 06. Post-CFET

— The Outlook for Next-Generation Transistors Toward 2040

topics: [“Semiconductor”, “CFET”, “Post-CMOS”, “Device Roadmap”]

🧭 Introduction

We have traced the evolution from planar MOSFETs
through FinFETs, GAA, and ultimately CFETs.

At this point, a natural question arises:

Where do we go after CFET?

This article does not claim a single definitive answer.
Instead, it organizes the realistic options and constraints envisioned up to around 2040,
from the perspectives of device physics and manufacturing feasibility.

🧩 CFET Is Not the End, but It Is a Milestone

CFET attempts to address, at the structural level and simultaneously:

The completion of electric-field control (GAA)
Extreme area efficiency via vertical stacking
Integration with power delivery separation (BPR)

These represent the major challenges CMOS has faced for decades.

At the same time, CFET inevitably introduces:

Strong thermal coupling
Severe process temperature constraints
Rapidly increasing interconnect and manufacturing costs

In this sense, CFET is best positioned as:

Not the “end” of CMOS structural evolution,
but a clear and significant milestone

⏳ Up to ~2030: Extending and Stabilizing CFET

Up to around 2030, the central theme will be:

How to keep CFET viable and manufacturable

Key focus areas include:

Full-scale deployment of BPR (Backside Power Rail)
Re-architecting interconnect hierarchies and power networks
Advanced thermal management and packaging technologies

In this phase, value lies less in:

Introducing entirely new transistor structures
and more in
Preventing existing structures from breaking down

🔗 2030–2035: Heterogeneous Integration Becomes Decisive

During this period, improvements to a single transistor structure alone
will no longer be sufficient to meet system-level demands.

Technologies moving to the forefront include:

Chiplets
Advanced 3D integration
Monolithic 3D (logic–logic / logic–memory)

Here, performance is determined less by:

“What device you use”
and more by
“How you combine them”

🌱 2035–2040: Beyond-CMOS Technologies Coexist in Niche Roles

Beyond 2035, several non-CMOS technologies gain practical relevance:

2D materials (e.g., MoS₂)
Spintronics
Quantum devices

The key point, however, is that these technologies are unlikely to:

Replace general-purpose logic
but rather
Coexist by complementing CMOS in specific, limited applications

CMOS will likely remain:

The most manufacturable and design-friendly foundational technology

🎯 “What Works” Matters More Than “What’s New”

When discussing Post-CFET, the most important criteria are not:

Novelty
Theoretical performance limits

Instead, the decisive questions are:

Can it be manufactured?
Can it be designed?
Can it be modeled?
Can it be integrated into education and EDA flows?

These are the same criteria that governed every transition:

Planar → FinFET → GAA → CFET

📝 Summary

✅ CFET marks a major milestone in CMOS structural evolution
✅ Up to ~2030 focuses on extending and stabilizing CFET
✅ The 2030s are dominated by heterogeneous integration
✅ Toward 2040, beyond-CMOS technologies coexist in niche roles
✅ The essence of Post-CFET lies in feasibility, not novelty

The Post-CFET era can be described as:

Not a time to search for the next shape,
but a time to ask how far we can make things truly work

This question will continue to confront
design, manufacturing, and education alike.

📘 Edusemi-v4x | Advanced Node Technologies (FinFET, GAA, CFET)

GitHub Pages (Public Educational Material, Japanese)
https://samizo-aitl.github.io/Edusemi-v4x/f_chapter1_finfet_gaa/
GitHub (Source Management, Markdown Manuscripts)
https://github.com/Samizo-AITL/Edusemi-v4x/tree/main/f_chapter1_finfet_gaa

Planar MOSFET → FinFET → GAA → CFET
This article corresponds to Special Chapter 1,
which systematically explains the evolution of electric-field control structures.