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Intel: EUV-Enabled 7nm Process Tech is on Track
Originally planned to enter mass production in the second half of 2016, Intel's 10nm process technology is still barely used by the company today. Currently the process is used to produce just a handful of CPUs, ahead of an expected ramp to high-volume manufacturing (HVM) only later in 2019. Without a doubt, Intel suffered delays on its 10nm process by several years, significantly impacting the company's product lineup and its business.
Now, as it turns out, Intel's 10nm may be a short-living node as the company's 7nm tech is on-track for introduction in accordance with its original schedule.
For a number of times Intel said that it set too aggressive scaling/transistor density targets for its 10nm fabrication process, which is why its development ran into problems. Intel's 10nm manufacturing tech relies exclusively on deep ultraviolet lithography (DUVL) with lasers operating on a 193 nm wavelength. To enable the fine feature sizes that Intel set out to achieve on 10nm, the process had to make heavy usage of mutli-patterning. According to Intel, a problem of the process was precisely its heavy usage of multipatterning (quad-patterning to be more exact).
By contrast, Intel's 7nm production tech will use extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) with laser wavelength of 13.5 nm for select layers, reducing use of multipatterning for certain metal layers and therefore simplifying production and shortening cycle times. As it appears, the 7nm fabrication process had been in development separately from the 10nm tech and by a different team. As a result, its development is well underway and is projected to enter HVM in accordance with Intel's unannounced roadmap, the company says.
Meanwhile, an unconfirmed leak of AMD's Ryzen 3000 lineup shows a 12-core CPU at $300 and a 16-core CPU at $450.
Previously: Intel Delays Mass Production Of 10 nm CPUs To 2019
Intel Releases Open Letter in Attempt to Address Shortage of "14nm" Processors and "10nm" Delays
Intel Denies that It Will Cancel or Skip its "10nm" Process
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Friday December 07 2018, @01:28AM (2 children)
From tradeshows for the past few years. They mean it this time.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @02:21AM
A lone man was walking down the sidewalk early in the morning. The man was rubbing his chin with his fingers, as though he were deeply contemplating a certain matter. Indeed, this man - Rickerson - was contemplating something, and that something was of the utmost importance: Rape.
How many women and children should Rickerson rape today? It was a difficult question to answer. Even men's rights philosophers - who studied issues such as this for their entire lives - would be at a loss as to what the answer was. Suddenly, and without warning, the answer came to him; it was deceptively simple and yet seemingly unfathomable. All of them. Why not simply rape all of them? Rickerson knew. Rickerson knew that he stumbled upon a world-changing insight, and so he immediately moved to contact the world's top science organizations.
The revolutionary knowledge spread throughout the world like wildfire. "Rape them all!" became a common expression. Several fields of science - chemistry, physics, psychology, computer science, and more - changed almost completely overnight to the point where they no longer resembled their former selves. In addition, rape rates rose to the maximum possible extent. As a result, men all over the world began reclaiming their rights. Some men even used devices to access parallel universes so that they could toy with the women and children there as well. And this was all thanks to Rickerson, who received a Nobel Rape Prize for his Earth-shattering discovery.
It was a new dawn for humanity, one which brought limitless growth and endless opportunities. This time period would eventually come to be referred to as The Rape Age.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @12:55PM
The logic is reasonable behind 7nm being on-track. EUV has been compared to 28nm nodes because the reduction in required multi-patterning. It could be Intel's 10nm process is just too challenging for immersion. Both TSMC and Samsung are using EUV at 7nm although to what extent is ambiguous.
For all three of these players availability of EUV scanners will be an issue. Throughput is still low and ASML cannot increase production quickly. This could also build Intel's story that 14nm investment is increasing too: 7nm fabs will be built as quickly as tools can roll in but ultimately a high-yielding process is still needed to meet demand.