In recent years, Intel has made unprecedented efforts to promote advanced process technology, hoping to overtake TSMC at the fastest speed and regain its leading position, and now it has reiterated this route, especially to consolidate its leading position in the future through the future 14A 1.4nm class process.
At present, Intel is on track to achieve its goal of "five process nodes in four years", and the Intel 7 process, Intel 4 and Intel 3 using EUV extreme ultraviolet lithography technology have all achieved mass production.
Among them, Intel 3 as an upgraded version, applied to the server side of Sierra Forest, Granite Rapids, will be released this year, of which the former for the first time using pure E core design, up to 288.
The Intel 20A and Intel 18A nodes, equivalent to 2nm and 1.8nm respectively, are progressing smoothly and will continue to use EUV technology and apply RibbonFET fully surround gate transistor and PowerVia backside power supply technology.
With these two, Intel hopes to regain its process leadership by 2025.
After that, Intel will continue to adopt innovative technologies to advance the development and manufacturing of future process nodes to consolidate its leadership.
One of the key points is the High NA EUV technology, and the numerical aperture (NA) is a measure of the ability to collect and focus light.
By upgrading the optical system that reflects the circuit pattern on the mask onto the silicon wafer, High NA EUV lithography can greatly improve the resolution, thus contributing to the further miniaturization of the transistor.
As the next advanced process node after Intel 18A, the Intel 14A 1.4nm class will use High NA EUV lithography technology.
In order to create transistors with smaller feature sizes, while integrating High NA EUV lithography technology, Intel is also developing new transistor structures and improving process steps, such as reducing steps and simplifying processes through PowerVia backside power technology.
In addition, Intel announced several evolution versions of Intel 3, Intel 18A, and Intel 14A to help customers develop and deliver products that meet their specific needs.
