Innovation, solid and rigorous engineering, achieving four years and five process milestones
Time:2023-12-14
Views:417
In September of this year, Intel achieved large-scale mass production of its 4 process nodes, and Intel‘s "four years and five process nodes" journey to regain process leadership reached a milestone on time.
Recently, Ann Kelleher, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Technology Development at Intel, told us the "behind the scenes story" of this plan. How did Intel steadily advance the "Four Year Five Process Nodes" plan on time? At present, Intel 7 and Intel 4 have achieved large-scale production, Intel 3 is about to arrive, achieving a performance improvement of about 18% per watt. The following Intel 20A and Intel 18A are also progressing smoothly, with a performance improvement of about 10% per watt compared to the previous node.
Innovative technology support
Ann Kelleher stated that Intel has been very successful in adopting EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography) technology in Intel 4 technology and has made sufficient preparations before using this technology for large-scale production. From the benchmark of Intel 4‘s manufacturing indicators, it is very compatible with EUV. EUV can not only reduce the number of pattern layers, thereby improving yield, but also help reduce manufacturing cycle time and overall costs.
In Intel 3 technology, Intel will further increase its use of EUV, and in the Intel 20A and Intel 18A process nodes that usher in the Emmy era, Intel will also apply two new technologies: PowerVia backpower supply technology and RibbonFET full surround gate (GAA) transistors. The research and development work for both technologies has been completed.
PowerVia achieves back power supply
Among them, PowerVia not only improves the speed and frequency of chip usage, but also has great potential in advanced packaging by moving some metal wires to the back of the chip. Intel has made significant innovations in the past two to three years to address the industry‘s concerns about the heat dissipation issue of back power supply, enhancing PowerVia‘s heat management capabilities and exploring how to better utilize it in higher heat density products such as GPUs.
A solid and rigorous process
Intel CEO Pat Kissinger once said, "The ‘four years and five process milestones‘ are not building castles in the air, but a solid and rigorous project that we can successfully reach the finish line." Ann Kelleher explained that Intel conducts early research before developing new process milestones, some even starting six to ten years ago. Next is the pathfinding stage, which will basically determine which parts of the early research may be used in the final process node. Next is the development phase, which will take two to three years depending on the project. Finally, a certain amount of chips will be manufactured on the experimental production line, and only after proving that they meet Intel‘s standards, will the process technology be "transferred" to the factory for large-scale production.
In the stage of technology transfer, Intel mainly performs matching work, equipment matching, manufacturing process matching, and even matching each part of the production line. The equipment used for the production of previous process nodes will be used if appropriate, and upgraded if not. Once we know we have matching capabilities, the chips will enter the production line.
In addition, when developing new process nodes, Intel has also developed contingency plans in every deemed high-risk area. For example, Intel has created a dedicated testing node for independently testing and developing PowerVia to ensure it can be properly used for Intel 20A and Intel 18A process nodes.
Adhere to customer first
Ann Kelleher stated that the 0.9 version of Intel 18A PDK will soon be available to external customers, and the 1.0 version will also be released according to industry standard schedules. Ensuring that the schedule is consistent with the typical schedule of foundries is one of Intel‘s key priorities.
Intel foundry services (IFS) customers have received very positive feedback on Intel 18A process nodes. An important customer has promised to use Intel 18A and Intel 3, and has paid a prepayment. The customer has found that the chips designed and produced by Intel foundry services perform excellently in terms of power consumption, performance, and area efficiency. In addition, two new customers focusing on high-performance computing have signed contracts to adopt Intel 18A.
From the perspective of the technology research and development department, Ann Kelleher stated that prepayments allow customers to make overall investments in any unique aspect according to their own wishes, and enable Intel to provide them with larger scale production capacity. Where possible, Intel OEM services will also strive to meet the requirements of specific customers for customized process nodes or traditional process variants, which mainly depends on specific requirements such as demand, development costs, etc.
"Four years and five process nodes" is just the beginning for Intel to regain and maintain its process leadership. Next year, Intel will develop a new plan to continue promoting Moore‘s Law through technological innovation, in order to achieve the goal of integrating one trillion transistors in a single package by 2030. At the upcoming IEDM 2023 (IEEE International Conference on Electronic Devices), which will open on December 9th, Intel will share its latest progress in advancing Moore‘s Law.
About Intel
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), as an industry leader, creates technology that changes the world, drives global progress, and makes life colorful. Inspired by Moore‘s Law, we are constantly committed to advancing semiconductor design and manufacturing, helping our clients meet the most significant challenges. By integrating intelligence into clouds, networks, edges, and various computing devices, we unleash the potential of data and help businesses and society become better. For more information on Intel‘s innovation, please visit Intel China News Center newsroom.intel.cn and the official website intel.cn.
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