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Technology

Technology nodes from 10 µm to 2 nm

NODE SCALE

10 µm 2 nm

Selected: 90 nm
10 µm 3 µm 1,5 µm 1 µm 800 nm 600 nm 350 nm 250 nm 180 nm 130 nm 90 nm 65 nm 45 nm 32 nm 22 nm 16 nm 11 nm 7 nm 5 nm 3 nm 2 nm

Technology node · 90 nm

90 nm

The 90 nm process refers to the manufacturing technology that came into use at leading semiconductor manufacturers from around 2003 onward.

At this node, the performance of the transistor itself can no longer be increased sufficiently by geometric scaling alone. Strained silicon is therefore introduced into mass production. By deliberately stretching or compressing the silicon crystal lattice, the mobility of electrons and holes can be increased, allowing higher transistor currents without reducing the channel length further.

For the critical lithography steps, 193 nm argon-fluoride lasers are now standard. The structures to be produced are therefore already considerably smaller than the wavelength used for exposure. Optical proximity correction and phase-shifting masks become indispensable for reliably transferring the desired structures onto the wafer.

The gate oxide has now become only a few atomic layers thick. Direct quantum-mechanical tunneling through the silicon dioxide therefore causes rapidly increasing leakage currents. This problem becomes one of the decisive limitations for the next technology generations.

Processors manufactured in 90 nm (selection):
  • Intel Pentium 4 (Prescott, 2004)
  • AMD Athlon 64 (Winchester, 2004)
  • IBM PowerPC 970FX (2004)