Die size/Lithography

[parablooper]

I was just wondering, what is the 45/32/22/14nm a measure of? I understand the whole "tick tock" intel system with their die shrinks, but I don't get what exactly they're shrinking. I tried wikipedia but it was kind of complicated. Can someone explain lithography in a beginner-intermediate's terms? Thanks.

 

[BrightCandle]

As far as I know the current numbers are a measure of the channel length, ie the bit of silicon between the source and drain terminals. Sometimes I also see it referred to as the Gate length, which makes sense because the gate sits atop of that silicon (or around it in the case of FETs), although the gate will overlap somewhat with the source and drain in the real world so technically they do measure somewhat different things.

 

[imported_bman]

From what I have read in these forums is that a die shrink no longer just means physical shirking of the gate length. A 32nm to 22nm shrink means that the new process meets certain metrics like reduced power consumption. Physical scaling of the gate length still happens, but the gate length does not correspond to the node. I think the 22nm Intel node is around 26nm in terms of gate length, but the electrical properties represent a ~35% of power reduction from 32nm (I think 35% is the expected power reduction for every full node shrink). I think this has been the case since 90nm.

 

[Matt1970]

This actually explains it rather well.

http://www.10stripe.com/articles/what-does-process-size-mean.php

 

[Soulkeeper]

I like to look at this website every now and then
chipworks
They take pictures and compare various chips.

 

[Idontcare]

I was just wondering, what is the 45/32/22/14nm a measure of? I understand the whole "tick tock" intel system with their die shrinks, but I don't get what exactly they're shrinking. I tried wikipedia but it was kind of complicated. Can someone explain lithography in a beginner-intermediate's terms? Thanks.

Node labels are just labels to be thought of as simply communicating that a new set of design rules and electrical properties have been created.

What you are asking is akin to asking "what is the 'i7-2600K' a measure of?"...it isn't a measure of anything, it is just a number with the units nanometer attached to the end of it masquerading as if it meant something physical (but it doesn't).

Think of it like this - what does the model year number mean with respect to cars? In Sept 2012 you could walk into a showroom and buy yourself a "2013 Sienna" Toyota minivan...what does the number "2013" have to do with the van itself, what is it measuring, given that you are buying the vehicle in the year 2012?

Another example is the 2014 Mazda 6 that you could find in showrooms for sale in Dec 2012. The "2014" number is clearly not a measure of "year" by any stretch of the imagination, nor does it need to be. It is just a number that is incremented with every new version of the vehicle as it is brought to market so car buyers know where to place the vehicle in terms of lineage with respect to the rest of the lineup.

And that is about all you can do with a node label. If I gave you three CPUs and told you, CPU A was made with 45nm process technology, CPU B was made with 32nm, and CPU C with 22nm...what can you tell me about CPUs A, B and C?

Answer - pretty much nothing unless I tell you one more piece of relevant information, "they are all made by the same CPU manufacturer"...ah, now you can at least make some deductions and conclude things like "well, CPU A is oldest, followed by CPU B, and then CPU C".

Because the process node labels aren't really even comparable across companies, they are basically only self-referencing (like comparing a 2013 Mazda 6 to a 2014 Mazda 6, a meaningful comparison unlike say comparing a 2013 Mazda 6 to a 2013 Toyota Sienna). Intel's 32nm would be expected to have approximately 2x better transistor density than their own 45nm transistor technology, 40-50% lower power, 10-20% higher clocks, etc etc.

But none of that is required, nor is any of it measured and captured in the node label itself ("32nm", "22nm" etc).

It has nothing to do with the physical or electrical dimensions of the components themselves. Nothing to do with the channel, drawn or active. Intel's 14nm will be labeled "14nm" simply for no other reason than that is the next rung on the node labeling ladder after 22nm for their naming convention.

Same reason my 22nm Ivy Bridge was an i7-3770K but my 32nm Sandy Bridge was an i7-2600K, and Haswell is an i7-4770K. Just a naming convention which has numbers so that it can easily be incremented (or decremented) for marketing and labeling purposes.

 

[parablooper]

Alright thanks guys