Terra Quantum has announced the successful fabrication and validation of the world’s first foundry-grade Negative Capacitance Field-Effect Transistor (NC-FET).
“The NC-FET marks a defining moment not just for Terra Quantum, but for the future of computing,” said Markus Pflitsch, Founder and CEO of Terra Quantum. “In an era where performance scaling had stalled, we’ve not just reignited that curve, but accelerated it. This transistor opens the door to sovereign, energy-efficient, high-speed compute, and puts us in a position to lead the next wave of semiconductor innovation.”
Terra Quantum’s NC-FET prototype delivers internal voltage amplification and a switching slope of less than 30 millivolts per decade, breaking the ‘60 mV wall,’ a long-standing barrier in silicon physics. It runs up to 40 times faster than today’s chips while consuming nearly 20 times less energy per operation, as little as 0.5 femtojoules. That’s faster, cooler, and dramatically more efficient.
These advances are enabled not by exotic materials or theoretical constructs, but through the integration of ferroelectric materials into the transistor gate, a CMOS-compatible approach that delivers practical, scalable improvements within standard silicon processes. Unlike most academic NC-FETs, Terra Quantum’s version is built on foundry-grade silicon using established deposition techniques and known ferroelectric materials. Compared to state-of-the-art FinFETs, the device achieves five to ten times higher logic throughput.
The NC-FET offers benefits across AI training, mobile edge computing, and secure sovereign infrastructure. Sub-milliwatt operation makes it ideal for mobile and wearable systems, while its speed and efficiency redefine what’s possible in high-performance workloads.
“With our transistor, we are pushing the boundaries of silicon at an unprecedented scale,” said Dr. Florian Neukart, Chief Product Officer at Terra Quantum. “This transistor delivers internal voltage gain, breaks the 60 mV/dec barrier, and reaches clock speeds once thought physically unreachable. This is not just an evolution, this is a revolution and a complete disruption.”
This is not a research concept. Terra Quantum has fabricated and validated a standalone NC-FET stack, combining a CMOS FET with an integrated ferroelectric capacitor. Key achievements include polarization switching at room temperature, remnant polarization of ~32 μC/cm² across multiple dies, and verified low-leakage and domain stability, essential for manufacturability.
“For years, negative capacitance was a theoretical promise, now it’s engineered and measurable,” said Dr. Valerii Vinokur, Chief Technology Officer at Terra Quantum. “This is a rare moment in physics and engineering: a fundamental effect translated into functioning silicon. The NC-FET proves that we can control quantum-level materials to reshape classical computing at scale.”
As part of the “Innovation through Research and Development” program, the NC-FET project is supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), administered through the Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg (ILB). This funding underscores the EU’s commitment to advancing new technologies and fostering regional innovation.
Terra Quantum’s commercialization model includes licensing NC-FET IP, joint development with leading chipmakers, and selective fabless productization for strategic verticals such as AI and defense. With prototype samples now verified and structures fully simulated with standard tools, like Cadence Sentaurus, Terra Quantum is opening select access to NC-FET dies and transistor design IP.
