7nm 10nm 14nm 制程对比。intel TSMC intel.zip

7nm vs 10nm vs 14nm: Fabrication Process

November 26, 2019 by Kashish Kumawat

“7nm, 10nm, 12nm, 14nm, 16nm….”

You’ll generally find this number when you’re going through the specs of Semiconductor devices like a Processor.

Product reviewers and Tech Experts talk about this number like its a big deal.

So, what exactly is this nanometer number?

Well, as a consumer, all you need to know that this number represents the size of transistors (or components) in a Processor (We will get

back to the actual meaning later). The transistors are the buildings block of a CPU and digital circuits.

So, what happens when we shrink the size of a Transistor?

This results in two major improvements:

1) Performance: As the size of the transistor decreases, we can fit a higher number of them in the same unit area. Hence, we can achieve

higher processing power from the same sized processor.

2) Power Efficiency: Smaller transistors require less power for their functioning. This reduces the overall power consumption of the chip.

Less power also results in the generation of less heat and thus allowing us to increase the clock speeds further.

This was explained in Moore’s Law which states that the number of transistors in an Integrated Circuit doubles every two years because

of the advancement in manufacturing technology. We also call this Die Shrink.

Moore’s Law: The Increase in the Number of Transistors

So, the next time you compare two products, pay close attention to this number.

And now for those of you who want to go into the details, here’s the real deal:

These nanometer values don’t actually represent the size of the transistor, but rather the fabrication technology

used to manufacture them. A long time ago, the gate pitch of a Transistor was same as the Fabrication

Technology (nm value), but this is not the case anymore. In fact, this has now become just a marketing gimmick

that holds no physical significance.

And there is no universal standard to calculate this value either. Different brands have different ways to calculate this. For instance, the

10nm from TSMC is not equivalent to the 10nm from Samsung.

What Intel calls as 10nm, is similar to what TSMC calls as 7nm. Thus, there is no universal standard for the same.

So, what matters now?

The fabrication process with a higher transistor density is usually better. Move on to the next section to find the ranking of different

process nodes based on their density.

 5 References

7nm vs 10nm vs 12nm vs 14nm: Transistor Densities

We all have been waiting for Intel’s 10nm Processors since 2016. And as of early 2020, Intel has only managed to launch 10nm chips for

Laptops (Ice Lake) and these are clocked very low and the yields are still poor.

But one big reason for the delay is the fact that Intel is taking a big leap forward. What Intel’s 10nm brings is even better than the 7nm

offerings of Samsung and TSMC. Here’s a look at the transistor densities of different semiconductor chip manufacturers.

While there’s hardly any sign of Intel’s 10nm in Mainstream Processors, TSMC’s 7nm has already entered mass production and is used for

manufacturing of Apple A12 Bionic, Kirin 980, Snapdragon 855, and the Ryzen 3000 Series (Zen 2).