Semiconductor device fabrication |
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MOSFET scaling (process nodes) |
The"22 nm" node is the process step following32 nm inCMOSMOSFETsemiconductor device fabrication. The typical half-pitch (i.e., half the distance between identical features in an array) for a memory cell using the process is around 22 nm.[citation needed] It was first demonstrated bysemiconductor companies for use inRAM in 2008. In 2010,Toshiba began shipping 24 nmflash memory chips, andSamsung Electronics began mass-producing 20 nm flash memory chips. The first consumer-levelCPU deliveries using a 22 nm process started in April 2012 with theIntelIvy Bridge processors.
Since at least 1997, "process nodes" have been named purely on a marketing basis, and have no relation to the dimensions on the integrated circuit;[1] neither gate length, metal pitch or gate pitch on a "22nm" device is twenty-two nanometers.[2][3][4][5]
TheITRS 2006 Front End Process Update indicates that equivalent physical oxide thickness will not scale below 0.5 nm (about twice the diameter of asiliconatom), which is the expected value at the 22 nm node. This is an indication that CMOS scaling in this area has reached a wall at this point, possibly disturbingMoore's law.
The20-nanometre node is an intermediate half-nodedie shrink based on the 22-nanometre process.
TSMC began mass production of 20 nm nodes in 2014.[6] The 22 nm process was superseded by commercial14 nmFinFET technology in 2014.
On August 18, 2008,AMD,Freescale,IBM,STMicroelectronics,Toshiba, and theCollege of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) announced that they jointly developed and manufactured a 22 nmSRAM cell, built on a traditional six-transistor design on a 300 mmwafer, which had a memory cell size of just 0.1μm2.[7] The cell was printed usingimmersion lithography.[8]
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 theIntel Developer Forum Fall 2009,Intel showed a 22 nm wafer and announced that chips with 22 nm technology would be available in the second half of 2011.[9] SRAM cell size is said to be 0.092 μm2, smallest reported to date.
On January 3, 2010, Intel andMicron Technology announced the first in a family of 25 nmNAND devices.
On May 2, 2011, Intel announced its first 22 nm microprocessor, codenamedIvy Bridge, using aFinFET technology called3-Dtri-gate.[10]
IBM'sPOWER8 processors are produced in a 22 nmSOI process.[11]
Preceded by 32 nm (CMOS) | MOSFETmanufacturing processes | Succeeded by 14 nm (FinFET) |