7 nanometer

Semiconductor manufacturing processes

10 µm – 1971 6 µm – 1974 3 µm – 1977 1.5 µm – 1982 1 µm – 1985 800 nm – 1989 600 nm – 1994 350 nm – 1995 250 nm – 1997 180 nm – 1999 130 nm – 2001 90 nm – 2004 65 nm – 2006 45 nm – 2008 32 nm – 2010 22 nm – 2012 14 nm – 2014 10 nm – 2016–2017 7 nm – 2018–2019 5 nm – 2020–2021
Half-nodes

In semiconductor manufacturing, the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors defines the 7 nanometer (7 nm) node as the technology node following the 10 nm node.

Single transistor 7 nm scale devices were first produced in the early 2000s – as of 2016 commercial production of 7 nm chips is at a development stage.

History

Technology demos

In 2002, IBM produced a 6 nm transistor.^[1]

In 2003, NEC produced a 5 nm transistor.^[2]

In 2012, IBM produced a sub-10 nm carbon nanotube transistor that outperformed silicon on speed and power.^[3] "The superior low-voltage performance of the sub-10 nm CNT transistor proves the viability of nanotubes for consideration in future aggressively scaled transistor technologies," according to the abstract of the paper in Nano Letters.^[4]

In July 2015, IBM announced that they had built the first functional transistors with 7 nm technology, using a silicon-germanium process.^[5]^[6]

Expected commercialisation and technologies

Although Intel has not yet divulged any certain plans to manufacturers or retailers, it has already stated that it would no longer use silicon at this node.^[7] A possible replacement material for silicon would be indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs).^[8]

In April 2015, TSMC announced that 10 nm production would begin in 2016, followed by 7 nm production in 2017.^[9]

References

↑ IBM claims world's smallest silicon transistor
↑ NEC test-produces world's smallest transistor.
↑ "IBM: Tiny carbon nanotube transistor outshines silicon". Cnet.com. January 30, 2012.
↑ Franklin, Aaron D.; et al. (2012). "Sub-10 nm Carbon Nanotube Transistor". Nano Letters 12 (2): 758–762. doi:10.1021/nl203701g.
↑ IBM Research builds functional 7nm processor
↑ IBM Discloses Working Version of a Much Higher-Capacity Chip - NYTimes.com
↑ "ISSCC 2015: Intel 10 nm Last Silicon Node". Android Authority.
↑ Intel forges ahead to 10nm, will move away from silicon at 7nm. Feb 2015
↑ TSMC launching 10 nm FinFet Process in 2016, followed by 7 nm in 2017

External links

Summary technology trend targets lists the 2013 predictions of the 7nm node characteristics.

Preceded by 10 nm	CMOS manufacturing processes	Succeeded by 5 nm

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