[The Exiled]

Intel to use Nanowire/Nanoribbon Transistors in Volume ‘in Five Years’

This year, at the international VLSI conference, Intel’s CTO Mike Mayberry gave one of the plenary presentations, which this year was titled ‘The Future of Compute’. Within the presentation, a number of new manufacturing technologies were discussed, including going beyond FinFET to Gate-All-Around structures, or even to 2D Nano-sheet structures, before eventually potentially leaving CMOS altogether. Dr. Mayberry stated that he expects nanowire transistors to be in high volume production within five years, putting a very distinctive mark in the sand for Intel and others to reach.

For 2021, Intel is preparing 10nm+++ as well as a new process node (7nm), and we know this to be the case given that Intel has a contract with the Aurora supercomputer for Argonne, which is due to have Intel’s new Ponte Vecchio HPC accelerator inside, which is partly built on 7nm. That system has to be delivered in 2021, or at least Intel has to hit a number of minimum milestones for that system in 2021, so we might see the first inklings of 7nm at that time. The slide above also says 7nm on EUV.

Assuming all goes to plan, we have 2022 with 7nm+, then 2023 with 7nm++ and another new process node, believed to be 5nm. This is expected to be the inflection point with TSMC’s 3nm in terms of density, which could suggest that this is where GAA technology is likely to be. Going beyond that, 2024 is 5nm+, then 2025 is 5nm++ and 3nm. If I were a betting man, and I predicted that Intel’s timeline over the course of five years might slip the best part of 6-12 months, then 2025 might still be in the 5nm / 5+ era. So with Dr. Mayberry saying within 5 years for high volume, the smart money would be GAA coming at 5nm, in 2023-2024.

Izvor: AnandTech

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