Ibexx & Intel Investors - Details of Intel's 0.18 Micron process RoadMap.
Note that Intel expects 1 GHz devices to be possible with evolutionary improvement to the all aluminum 0.18 micron process - in late year 2000.
Paul
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semibiznews.com
A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc.
Story posted 10 a.m. EST/7 a.m., PST, 1/22/99
Intel's 0.18-micron technology to push
chip power across gigahertz barrier
By Will Wade
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Intel Corp. will roll out its 0.18-micron process technology this year in microprocessors exceeding 600 MHz, but the technology could lead to powerful processors in the 1-gigahertz range by the end of next year. The company disclosed the roadmap for its latest, smallest manufacturing process at a technology briefing here Thursday, and said the first 0.18-micron chips will be launched this summer.
"The Pentium III architecture will be able to go up the 800-MHz range with the current process, and with further process enhancements it will reach the 1-GHz range," predicted Sunlin Chou, vice president and general manager of the company's technology and manufacturing group.
The actual dimensions of the gates manufactured using the 0.18-micron process will be 0.13 micron. Mark Bohr, Intel fellow and director of process architecture and integration for the technology and manufacturing group, said this was for competitive reasons, to make it easier to compare Intel's next manufacturing generation with that of competitors.
Historically, Intel has rolled out a new manufacturing process generation every two years since 1989. The next process, the 0.13-micron process will likely
follow the same schedule and arrive in 2001. Bohr said it would be used for Intel's first chips featuring copper interconnect technology.
The company will officially introduce its desktop Pentium III next month, at 450- and 500-MHz speeds. The first chip to utilize the 0.18-micron process will be the mobile Pentium III, with speeds in the 600 MHz range, which will be launched this summer. By the end of this year, both the mobile and desktop Pentium III chips should be closing in on 800 MHz.
Intel chips tend to improve their speed performance by about 50% per year, according to Nathan Brookwood, president of market research firm Insight 64. That puts the Pentium III on target to break the 1-GHz barrier by the end of 2000.
Despite the impressive manufacturing technology, Brookwood noted that the real test will come when the new chips hit the market. "The real issue is what products they deliver, and what their price and performance levels are," he said. "Let's see what they can make." |
