The following 21 pages are in this category, out of 21 total. This list may not reflect recent changes (learn more).
1. 5 nanometer – In semiconductor manufacturing, the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors defines the 5 nanometer node as the technology node following the 7 nm node. Transistors at the 7 nm scale were first produced by researchers in the first decade of the 21st century—the process scale may represent the end of Moores Law scaling for electronic devices, as of 2017, no 5 nm scale devices have been commercially produced. The 5 nm node was once assumed by some experts to be the end of Moores law, transistors smaller than 7 nm will experience quantum tunnelling through their logic gates. Due to the involved in development,5 nm is predicted to take longer to reach market than the 2 years estimated by Moores law. It was the smallest transistor ever produced, in 2008, transistors one atom thick and ten atoms wide were made by UK researchers. They were carved from graphene, an alternative to silicon as the basis of future computing. Graphene is a made from flat sheets of carbon in a honeycomb arrangement. A team at the University of Manchester, UK, used it to some of the smallest transistors at this time. In 2010, an Australian team announced that they fabricated a single functional transistor out of 7 atoms that measured 4 nm in length, in 2012, a team of scientists at Chungbuk National University in South Korea have created a transistor thats only 2 nm in size. In 2012, a single-atom transistor was fabricated using a phosphorus atom bound to a silicon surface and this transistor could be said to be a 180 picometer transistor, the Van der Waals radius of a phosphorus atom, though its covalent radius bound to silicon is likely smaller. Making transistors smaller than this will require either using elements with smaller atomic radii, in 2015, IMEC and Cadence had fabricated 5 nm test chips. The fabricated test chips are not fully functional devices but rather are to evaluate patterning of interconnect layers, in 2015, Intel described a lateral nanowire FET concept for the 5-nm node. In 2016, researchers at Berkeley Lab created a transistor with a working 1-nanometer gate, the field-effect transistor utilized MoS2 as the channel material, while a carbon nanotube was used to invert the channel. The effective channel length is approximately 1 nm, however, the drain to source pitch was much bigger, with micrometer size. Although Intel has not yet divulged any certain plans to manufacturers or retailers, their 2009 roadmap projected an end-user release by approximately 2020
2. 7 nanometer – In semiconductor manufacturing, the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors defines the 7 nanometer node as the technology node following the 10 nm node. Single transistor 7 nm scale devices were first produced in the early 2000s – as of 2017 commercial production of 7 nm chips is at a development stage, in 2002, IBM produced a 6 nm transistor. In 2003, NEC produced a 5 nm transistor, in 2012, IBM produced a sub-10 nm carbon nanotube transistor that outperformed silicon on speed and power. In July 2015, IBM announced that they had built the first functional transistors with 7 nm technology, although Intel has not yet divulged any certain plans to manufacturers or retailers, it has already stated that it would no longer use silicon at this node. A possible replacement material for silicon would be indium gallium arsenide or graphene, in April 2016, TSMC announced that 7 nm trial production would begin in the first half of 2017. In March 2017, TSMC announced 7 nm risk production starting by June 2018, in September 2016, GlobalFoundries announced trial production in the second half of 2017 and risk production in early 2018, with test chips already running. In February 2017, Intel announced Fab 42 in Arizona will produce microprocessors using 7 nm manufacturing process, summary technology trend targets lists the 2013 predictions of the 7nm node characteristics
3. 10 nanometer – In semiconductor fabrication, the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors defines the 10 nanometer node as the technology node following the 14 nm node. 10 nm class denotes chips made using process technologies between 10 and 20 nanometers, as of 2016,10 nm devices were still under commercial development. The first commercial release is planned for 2017 by Samsung, the ITRSs original naming of this technology node was 11 nm. According to the 2007 edition of the roadmap, by the year 2022, pat Gelsinger, at the time serving as Intels Chief Technology Officer, claimed in 2008 that Intel saw a clear way towards the 10 nm node. As of 2014,10 nm node was projected to use a pitch of 40–50 nm. This 10 nm design rule is considered likely to be realized by multiple patterning, while the roadmap has been based on the continuing extension of CMOS technology, even this roadmap does not guarantee that silicon-based CMOS will extend that far. This is to be expected, since the length for this node may be smaller than 6 nm. Scientists have estimated that transistors at these dimensions are significantly affected by quantum tunnelling, hence, this node marks the practical beginning of nanoelectronics. At the ~10 nm scale, quantum tunneling becomes a significant phenomenon, controlling gaps on these scales by means of electromigration can produce interesting electrical properties. Quantum tunneling may be if its effect on device behavior can be understood. Future transistors may have insulating channels, an electron wave function decays exponentially in a classically forbidden region at a rate that can be controlled by the gate voltage. Interference effects are possible, Alternate option is in heavier mass semiconducting channels. Photoemission electron microscopy data has been used to show low energy electrons ~1.35 eV could travel as far as ~15 nm in SiO2. In April 2015, TSMC announced that 10 nm production would begin at the end of 2016, on 23 May 2015, Samsung Electronics showed off a 300 mm wafer of 10 nm FinFET chips. August 2016, Intel began trial production at 10 nm, on 17 October 2016, Samsung Electronics announced mass production at 10 nm. On 29 March 2017, Samsung started preorders for their Samsung Galaxy S8 which uses a 10 nm processor, sources A rule of thumb is that the process node is generally about 1/3 of the transistor fin pitch
4. 14 nanometer – The 14 nanometer semiconductor device fabrication node is the technology node following the 22 nm/ node. The naming of this technology node as 14 nm came from the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, one nanometer is one billionth of a meter. The smallest commercial chips use 14nm technology, an average chip is about the size of a quarter. The first 14 nm scale devices were shipped to consumers by Intel in 2014,14 nm resolution is difficult to achieve in a polymeric resist, even with electron beam lithography. In addition, the effects of ionizing radiation also limit reliable resolution to about 30 nm. Hardmask materials and multiple patterning are required, a more significant limitation comes from plasma damage to low-k materials. The extent of damage is typically 20 nm thick, but can go up to about 100 nm. The damage sensitivity is expected to get worse as the low-k materials become more porous, for comparison, the atomic radius of an unconstrained silicon is 0.11 nm. Thus about 90 Si atoms would span the length, leading to substantial leakage. Tela Innovations and Sequoia Design Systems developed a methodology allowing double exposure for the 14 nm node. c.2010, Samsung and Synopsys have also begun implementing double patterning in 22 nm and 16 nm design flows. Mentor Graphics reported taping out 16 nm test chips in 2010, on January 17,2011, IBM announced that they were teaming up with ARM to develop 14 nm chip processing technology. The new fabrication plant was to be named Fab 42, Intel billed the new facility as the most advanced, high-volume manufacturing facility in the world, and said it would come on line in 2013. Intel has since decided to postpone opening this facility and instead upgrade its facilities to support 14-nm chips. On May 17,2011, Intel announced a roadmap for 2014 that included 14 nm transistors for their Xeon, Core, in 2005, Toshiba demonstrated 15 nm gate length and 10 nm fin width using a sidewall spacer process. It has been suggested that for the 16 nm node, a logic transistor would have a length of about 5 nm. In December 2007, Toshiba demonstrated a prototype memory unit that used 15 nanometer thin lines, in December 2009, National Nano Device Laboratories, owned by the Taiwanese government, produced a 16 nm SRAM chip. In September 2011, Hynix announced the development of 15 nm NAND cells, in December 2012, Samsung Electronics taped out a 14 nm chip. In September 2013, Intel demonstrated an Ultrabook laptop that used a 14 nm Broadwell CPU, however, shipment was delayed further until Q42014
5. 22 nanometer – The 22 nanometer node is the process step following the 32 nm in CMOS semiconductor device fabrication. The typical half-pitch for a cell using the process is around 22 nm. It was first introduced by companies in 2008 for use in memory products. The ITRS2006 Front End Process Update indicates that equivalent physical oxide thickness will not scale below 0.5 nm and this is an indication that CMOS scaling in this area has reached a wall at this point, possibly disturbing Moores law. 20 nanometer is an intermediate half-node die shrink based on the 22 nanometer process, the 22 nm process was superseded by commercial 14 nm technology in 2014.1 μm2. The cell was printed using immersion lithography, the 22 nm node may be the first time where the gate length is not necessarily smaller than the technology node designation. For example, a 25 nm gate length would be typical for the 22 nm node. On September 22,2009, during the Intel Developer Forum Fall 2009, Intel showed a 22 nm wafer, SRAM cell size is said to be 0.092 μm2, smallest reported to date. On January 3,2010, Intel and Micron Technology announced the first in a family of 25 nm NAND devices, on May 2,2011, Intel announced its first 22 nm microprocessor, codenamed Ivy Bridge, using a technology called 3-D Tri-Gate. POWER8 processors is produced in a 22 nm SOI process, on August 31,2010, Toshiba announced that it was shipping 24 nm flash memory NAND devices. On April 23,2012, Intel Core i7 and Intel Core i5 processors based on Intels Ivy Bridge 22 nm technology for series 7 chipsets went on sale worldwide. Volume production of 22 nm processors began more than six months earlier, on June 3,2013, Intel started shipping Intel Core i7 and Intel Core i5 processors based on Intels Haswell microarchitecture in 22 nm technology for series 8 chipsets
6. 32 nanometer – The 32 nanometer node is the step following the 45 nanometer process in CMOS semiconductor device fabrication. 32 nanometer refers to the average half-pitch of a cell at this technology level. Intel and AMD both produced commercial microchips using the 32 nanometer process in the early 2010s, IBM and the Common Platform also developed a 32 nm high-k metal gate process. Intel began selling its first 32 nm processors using the Westmere architecture on 7 January 2010,28 nanometer was an intermediate half-node die shrink based on the 32 nanometer process. The 32 nm process was superseded by commercial 22 nm technology in 2012, prototypes using 32 nm technology first emerged in the mid-2000s. In 2004, IBM demonstrated a 0.143 μm2 SRAM cell with a poly gate pitch of 135 nm and it was observed that the cells sensitivity to input voltage fluctuations degraded significantly at such a small scale. In October 2006, the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre demonstrated a 32 nm flash patterning capability based on double patterning, the necessity of introducing double patterning and hyper-NA tools to reduce memory cell area offset some of the cost advantages of moving to this node from the 45 nm node. TSMC similarly used double patterning combined with immersion lithography to produce a 32 nm node 0.183 μm2 six-transistor SRAM cell in 2005, Intel Corporation revealed its first 32 nm test chips to the public on 18 September 2007 at the Intel Developer Forum. The test chips had a size of 0.182 μm2, used a second-generation high-k gate dielectric and metal gate. 193 nm immersion lithography was used for the layers, while 193 nm or 248 nm dry lithography was used on less critical layers. The critical pitch was 112.5 nm, in January 2011, Samsung completed development of what it claimed was the industrys first DDR4 DRAM module using a process technology with a size between 30 nm and 39 nm. The module could reportedly achieve data rates of 2.133 Gbit/s at 1. 2V. The module used pseudo open drain technology, specially adapted to allow DDR4 DRAM to consume just half the current of DDR3 when reading and writing data, intels Core i3 and i5 processors, released in January 2010, were among the first mass-produced processors to use 32 nm technology. Intels second-generation Core processors, codenamed Sandy Bridge, also used the 32 nm manufacturing process, intels 6-core processor, codenamed Gulftown and built on the Westmere architecture, was released on 16 March 2010 as the Core i7 980x Extreme Edition, retailing for approximately US$1,000. Intels lower-end 6-core, the i7-970, was released in late July 2010, AMD also released 32 nm SOI processors in the early 2010s. AMDs FX Series processors, codenamed Zambezi and based on AMDs Bulldozer architecture, were released in October 2011. The technology utilised a 32 nm SOI process, two CPU cores per module, and up to four modules, ranging from a quad-core design costing approximately US$130 to a $280 eight-core design. In September 2011, Ambarella Inc. announced the availability of the 32 nm-based A7L system-on-a-chip circuit for digital still cameras, the successor to 32 nm technology was the 22 nm node, per the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors
7. 45 nanometer – Per the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, the 45 nanometer technology node should refer to the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured at around the 2007–2008 time frame. At the end of 2008, SMIC was the first China-based semiconductor company to move to 45 nm, many critical feature sizes are smaller than the wavelength of light used for lithography. A variety of techniques, such as lenses, are used to make sub-wavelength features. Double patterning has also introduced to assist in shrinking distances between features, especially if dry lithography is used. It is expected that more layers will be patterned with 193 nm wavelength at the 45 nm node, moving previously loose layers from 248 nm to 193 nm wavelength is expected to continue, which will likely further drive costs upward, due to difficulties with 193 nm photoresists. Chipmakers have initially voiced concerns about introducing new materials into the gate stack. As of 2007, however, both IBM and Intel have announced that they have high-k dielectric and metal gate solutions, which Intel considers to be a change in transistor design. NEC has also put high-k materials into production, in 2004, TSMC demonstrated a 0.296 square micrometer 45 nm SRAM cell. In 2008, TSMC moved on to a 40 nm process, in January 2006, Intel demonstrated a 0.346 square micrometers 45 nm node SRAM cell. In April 2006, AMD demonstrated a 0.370 square micrometer 45 nm SRAM cell, in June 2006, Texas Instruments debuted a 0.24 square micrometer 45 nm SRAM cell, with the help of immersion lithography. In November 2006, UMC announced that it had developed a 45 nm SRAM chip with a size of less than 0.25 square micrometer using immersion lithography. In June 2007 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. started mass production of System-on-a-chip for use in consumer equipment based on the 45-nm process technology. The successors to 45 nm technology are 32 nm,22 nm, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. started mass production of System-on-a-chip for use in digital consumer equipment based on the 45-nm process technology. Intel shipped its first 45 nanometer based processor, the Xeon 5400-series, many details about Penryn appeared at the April 2007 Intel Developer Forum. Important advances include the addition of new instructions and new fabrication materials, AMD released its Sempron II, Athlon II, Turion II and Phenom II, as well as Shanghai Opteron processors using the 45-nm process technology. The Xbox 360 S, released in 2010, has its Xenon processor in 45 nm process, the PlayStation 3 Slim model introduced Cell Broadband Engine in 45 nm process. At IEDM2007, more details of Intels 45 nm process were revealed. Since immersion lithography is not used here, the patterning is more difficult
8. 90 nanometer – The origin of the 90 nm value is historical, as it reflects a trend of 70% scaling every 2–3 years. The naming is formally determined by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, the 193 nm wavelength was introduced by many companies for lithography of critical layers mainly during the 90 nm node. Yield issues associated with this transition were reflected in the costs associated with this transition. Even more significantly, the 300 mm wafer size became mainstream at the 90 nm node, the previous wafer size was 200 mm diameter. Use of 300 mm wafer size Use of KrF lithography with optical proximity correction 512 Mbit 1