As Moore’s Law, Intel is also the most determined defender of Moore’s Law, repeatedly said that the semiconductor process will continue to improve, after the existing four years to master the 5 generation CPU process, Intel also launched the next two generations of CPU process development, the goal is approaching 1nm.
Intel’s 5 generations of CPU process are Intel 7, Intel 4, Intel 3, Intel 20A and Intel 18A, of which Intel 7 debuted in 2021 on the 12th generation Core, Intel 4 will debut in the second half of the 14th generation Core, will also be the first time with EUV lithography process.
Intel 3 is an improved version of Intel 4, Intel 20A and the subsequent 18A is a major upgrade, equivalent to the 2nm and 1.8nm nodes of the Friends, which will be mass-produced in the first half of 2024 and the second half of the year, and will regain the leadership of the semiconductor process in 2025.
What about further down the road? Intel’s current roadmap does not mention the new process, but the latest news says Intel has launched the definition and development of the next two generations of the process, but there is no clear information.
According to the IMEC previously announced chip process roadmap, the 2nm process followed by 14A, that is, 1.4nm process, is expected to come out in 2026, and then the A10 process, that is, 1nm, came out in 2028.
Intel to develop the next two generations of the process should also be 1.4nm, 1nm level, the specific naming to wait for the official determination, after all, the time is still early.
After the 2nm process to upgrade the equipment, the current EUV lithography is not very efficient at that time, ASML is expected to launch the next generation of High NA technology EUV lithography EXE:5000 series in 2026, the NA indicator from the current 0.33 to 0.55, to further enhance the lithography resolution.
However, the cost of the next generation of EUV lithography will also rise sharply, with the current price tag at around $150 million and the next generation price easily exceeding $400 million.
