45nm = Efficiency and Speed from the Fab to the Core

posted by Ken Kaplan on November 03, 2007

The first tech reviews are out, and Legit Reviews said “the new Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 is the fastest processor on the market today.”

Even TIME Magazine named Intel’s new 45nm process one of “The Best Inventions Of The Year.”

You could say the stars aligned behind the creation of Intel’s newest 45nm generation of Core 2 processors. Smaller, faster and energy efficiency all play key roles from the new manufacturing plant all they way through to the revolutionary, tiny transistors they make using 45nm Hafnium-based high-k metal gate silicon technology.

They’re small enough that more than 2,000 45nm transistor gates could fit across the width of a human hair.

These 45nm transistor are fast enough to switch on and off approximately 300 billion times a second. A beam of light can’t even travel a tenth of an inch in the time it takes one of these new transistors to switch on and off.

Efficiency is the other trait that flows from designing of the transistor to building of the $3 bill state-of-the-art Fab 32 in Arizona, where many of the first 45nm processors are being made.

Fab 32 will likely become the company’s first official Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) factory based on new criteria being developed for facilities of this kind. LEED is a green building rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council that provides a set of standards for environmentally sustainable construction and requires several months of operating data before certification can be completed. The certification would demonstrate that Fab 32 meets the highest environmental standards and reflects Intel’s history of commitment to environmental leadership. More info from the CSR@Intel.

• Fab 32 is Intel’s sixth 300mm facility. The other facilities are located in Oregon (2), New Mexico, Arizona (Fab 12) and Ireland.
• 300mm wafer manufacturing uses 40 percent less energy and water per chip than a 200mm factory.
• Fab 32 is a rated as a “Class 10” clean room, meaning there are no more than 10 particles measuring 0.5 micron or larger per 1 cubic foot of air. A human hair measures just 80 micron. For comparison, hospital operating rooms are “Class 10,000,” meaning that the air inside Intel’s Fab 32 clean room is 1,000 times cleaner than the air in an operating room. Outside air is near “Class 3 million.”

New 45nm Intel processors are lead-free. And by the end of 2008, all of the 45nm product lines are slated to be offered halogen-free. You can listen to the story in this audio Podcast.

There’s more, but this cartoon might make better sense of it all.

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tagged: 45nm, Core 2 Extreme, energy efficient, Fab 32, quad core, Time