Microprocessor innovation is dependent on more or less doubling the number of transistors on a chip every two years in accordance with Moore's Law to increase performance and decrease cost. However, as transistors shrink to the size of atoms to make that possible, chipmakers have been struggling to solve the problem of transistor gate leakages.

The silicon dioxide (SiO2) layer used to make transistor gate dielectrics for the past 40 years has been getting progressively thinner, but at the same time it has been losing its ability to act as an insulator. Consequently, thinner dielectric layers have resulted in increased current leakage from the polysilicon electrodes above, resulting in overheating and power wastage.