Intel researcher Jack Kavalieros says ruthenium could outperform copper at around 20nm pitch

What was said

"There is a crossover point where ruthenium will have much better conductivity, better resistivity than copper. That’s roughly in the 20-nanometer pitch range."

Jack Kavalieros, speaking during a tour of Intel’s research lab, says copper interconnects face scaling challenges because they typically require a liner layer, which takes up a larger share of the conductor at very small dimensions. He says ruthenium can be etched and may avoid the liner requirement, creating a ‘crossover point’ where it becomes electrically preferable to copper at roughly a 20-nanometre pitch.