The object
Chenming Hu led the Berkeley work on the FinFET, a three-dimensional semiconductor device that replaced a planar channel with a fin controlled on multiple sides. The architecture overcame scaling limits in integrated circuits and became a foundational transistor technology for modern processors and mobile chips.
01
What Chenming did
Led the Berkeley work that invented and developed FinFET three-dimensional transistor technology.
02
Why it matters
Berkeley EECS describes Hu’s FinFET innovation as a way around a semiconductor-design limit that threatened continued transistor miniaturization.
03
Living-status check
Hu’s current Berkeley-hosted profile lists a 2024 Global Impact Award and his active TSMC Distinguished Professor Emeritus affiliation, reviewed July 2026.