Additional 65nm Process Will Stretch Battery Life of Mobile Devices
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 20, 2005 - Intel Corporation is
developing an ultra-low power derivative of its high-performance 65
nanometer (nm) logic manufacturing process that will enable production
of very low-power chips for mobile platforms and small-form factor
devices. The ultra-low power process will be Intel's second process
based on 65 nm process technology.
Intel's
high-performance 65nm (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter) process
provides both power consumption and performance benefits over Intel's
current industry-leading 90nm manufacturing process. The company's new
ultra-low power 65nm process provides Intel chip designers additional
options in delivering the circuit density, performance and power
consumption required by users of battery-operated devices.
"People typically embrace mobile platforms that maximize battery life," said Mooly Eden,
vice president and general manager of the Intel Mobile Platforms Group.
"Such products will be greatly enhanced by our new ultra-low power
manufacturing process. We will design future mobility platforms to take
full advantage of both leading-edge, 65nm manufacturing processes."
One
of the factors in decreasing chip power consumption, which is important
to mobile and battery-operated devices, is improving the design of the
transistor. Lost electricity leaking from these microscopic
transistors, even when they are in their "off" state, is a problem that
is a challenge for the entire industry.
"With the number of
transistors on some chips exceeding one billion, it is clear that
improvements made for individual transistors can multiply into huge
benefits for the entire device," said Mark Bohr,
senior fellow and director of Intel Process Architecture and
Integration. "Test chips made on Intel's ultra-low power 65nm process
technology have shown transistor leakage reduction roughly 1000 times
from our standard process. This translates into significant power
savings for people who will use devices based on this technology."
Intel's Ultra-Low Power 65nm Process Technology
Intel's ultra-low power, 65nm process technology includes several key
transistor modifications which enable delivery of low power benefits
while providing industry-leading performance. These transistor
modifications result in significant reductions in the three major
sources of transistor leakage: sub-threshold leakage, junction leakage
and gate oxide leakage. The benefits of reduced transistor leakage are
lower power and increased battery life.
About Intel's 65 nm Process Technology
Intel's
65nm processes combine higher-performance and lower-power transistors,
a second-generation version of Intel's strained silicon, eight
high-speed copper interconnect layers and a low-k dielectric material.
Building chips using the 65 nm processes will allow Intel to double the
number of transistors it can build on a single chip today (using
Intel's 90nm technology).
Intel's
65nm processes will feature transistors measuring only 35nm in gate
length, which will be the smallest and highest performing CMOS
transistors in high-volume production. By comparison, the most advanced
transistors in production today, found in Intel Pentium 4 processors,
measure 50nm. Small, fast transistors are the building blocks for very
fast processors.
Intel has integrated a second-generation
version of its high-performance strained silicon into these 65nm
processes. Strained silicon provides higher drive current, increasing
the speed of the transistors with only a two percent increase in
manufacturing cost.
Source: Intel Press Release
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