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Working the system
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18/01/2008
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It only seems just a couple of years ago that 0.5 and 0.35µm processes were considered the state of the art. Today, companies such as TSMC are working on processes which will allow devices to be produced with features that are one tenth the size.
Yet, despite dealing with features that are approaching atomic dimensions, efficiencies are improving and products are being shipped in ever increasing numbers.
Gareth Jones is European director of business development for TSMC. He said 65 and 90nm processes were now in full production, whilst its 45nm process has been released to production. “With the 90nm process, we’ve shipped 1million wafers in 53months; faster than we achieved with the 0.13µm node, which took 58months. Why is it getting faster? It’s because the way in which we take account of the ‘ecosystem – IP, libraries, tools, reference flows and so on – is helping to accelerate the yield curve.”
There are already what TSMC calls ‘significant numbers’ of tape outs at 65nm – despite its relative infancy. Meanwhile, the recently released 45nm process will ramp towards full production from Q2 this year.
Already, TSMC has produced first working silicon from a 32nm process, but says this is ‘nowhere near production’. “The material science isn’t fixed,” Jones noted, “and we have to decide which way to take the process forward.”
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Author
Graham Pitcher
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