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Intel To Produce 65-Nanometer Chips In 2005

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the including-prince's-wardrobe dept.

Ridgelift writes "In keeping with Moore's Law, Intel will begin mass-producing chips using 65-nanometer process technology in 2005, according to a ZDNet article (additional coverage at EE Times and The Inquirer). Intel recently produced a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) cell at 0.57 square microns, in comparison to 90-nanometer process measuring 1 square micron. "You can get a 40 to 50 percent increase in clock speed with no further improvements" says Intel director Mark Bohr."

3 of 187 comments (clear)

  1. Reduce Power? by brandido · · Score: 4, Interesting
    According to the article,
    Reducing the size of the chip improves performance, reduces costs and can potentially cut energy consumption. In a nutshell, electrons have a shorter commute in 65-nanometer chips, so performance goes up. The gate length--the distance electrons travel to get from the source to the drain on a transistor and thereby flip the transistor on--drops from 50 nanometers to 35 nanometers in 65-nanometer chips.
    However, it was my understanding that power consumption will often go up with smaller geometries as leakage current increases with the smaller gaters. Can anyone elaborate on this?
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    First Falcon-1 to orbit, then Falcon-9. Then I can die a happy man.
    1. Re:Reduce Power? by John+Courtland · · Score: 5, Interesting

      There's all sorts of problems when you get that small and fast. EMF interference, gate jumping, electron migration. The thing basically is a small radio transmitter, and starts causing itself problems just by running so fast. They need to really start designing more intelligently, unlike (as a previous poster stated) "ramping it up".

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  2. 65nm when 90nm isn't even out yet? hm by David+Jao · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Look, I am not a chip fabrication expert. I am merely a sideline observer. But based on my observations, Intel will probably not make it to 65nm in 2005.

    My position is based on nothing more than simple counting:

    • Intel achieved 250nm process technology (deschutes) in January 1998
    • ... 180nm (coppermine) in October 1999, although availability was scarce until January.
    • ... 130nm (northwood) in January 2002
    • ... 90nm (prescott) is not out yet, although it is supposed to be out in fourth quarter 2003. I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict January 2004.
    Their track record is clear: the average time between circuit size improvements is two years. Based on their history, 2005 would be a stretch, with the most likely release date falling somewhere in early 2006.