Term of the Moment
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Definition: process technology
The manufacturing method used to make silicon chips, which is measured by the size of the transistor's elements. The driving force behind the design of integrated circuits is miniaturization, and process technology boils down to the never-ending goal of "make it smaller." As transistors get smaller, they switch faster and use less energy. Smaller also means more computing power per square inch that can be placed into ever tighter quarters. See EUV machine and digital perfection.
Feature Size Measured in Nanometers
The size of the elements that make up a transistor are measured in nanometers. For example, a 32 nm process technology refers to features 32 nm in size. Also called a "technology node" and "process node," early chips were measured in micrometers (see table below).
The feature size may refer to the length of the silicon channel between source and drain in the transistor. However, it may also be measured as the space between wires on a wiring layer. For the different types of transistors, see FET.
All Chips Made Today Are Not Smaller
The smallest feature sizes are found on the latest, high-end CPU, SoC and AI chips that retail from several hundred to several thousand dollars apiece. However, 8-bit and 16-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) are used by the millions every year and sell for as little as a dollar or less in quantity. They use far fewer transistors and have feature sizes like the high-end chips a decade or two earlier. See microcontroller, CPU, SoC and AI chip.
Unbelievable How Small They Are!
Almost impossible to fathom, using state-of-the-art process technology, one square millimeter holds more than 100 million transistors. That is an area roughly equivalent to the head of a pin! See transistor density.
The following table of feature sizes does not mean every chip manufacturer improved its chips in the very same years. Nevertheless, it shows the progression over the decades. See active area and half-node.
Half a Micrometer in Five Years
Feature Size Measured in Nanometers
The size of the elements that make up a transistor are measured in nanometers. For example, a 32 nm process technology refers to features 32 nm in size. Also called a "technology node" and "process node," early chips were measured in micrometers (see table below).
All Chips Made Today Are Not Smaller
The smallest feature sizes are found on the latest, high-end CPU, SoC and AI chips that retail from several hundred to several thousand dollars apiece. However, 8-bit and 16-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) are used by the millions every year and sell for as little as a dollar or less in quantity. They use far fewer transistors and have feature sizes like the high-end chips a decade or two earlier. See microcontroller, CPU, SoC and AI chip.
Unbelievable How Small They Are!
Almost impossible to fathom, using state-of-the-art process technology, one square millimeter holds more than 100 million transistors. That is an area roughly equivalent to the head of a pin! See transistor density.
CHIP FEATURE SIZES
Nanometers Micrometers
Year (nm) (µm)
1957 120,000 120.0
1963 30,000 30.0
1971 10,000 10.0
1974 6,000 6.0
1976 3,000 3.0
1982 1,500 1.5 ********
1985 1,300 1.3 * the
1989 1,000 1.0 * range
1993 600 0.6 * for
1996 350 0.35 * 8-bit
1998 250 0.25 * and
1999 180 0.18 * 16-bit
2001 130 0.13 * MCUs
2003 90 0.09 *********
2005 65 0.065
2008 45 0.045
2010 32 0.032
Marketing From Here On
Chips are always improving because of
new designs but not smaller features.
From the 2010s to date, new chips are
still branded with ever-decreasing numbers.
For example, in 2025, chips had a metal
pitch around 21 nm; still tiny, but not
one or two nanometers. See metal pitch.
CHIP BRANDING (Not Feature Sizes)
Year (nm)
2012 22 nm
2014 14 nm
2017 10 nm
2018 7 nm
2020 5 nm
2022 3 nm
2024 2 nm
2025 1.8 nm
In the 1990s, feature sizes of these AMD CPUs were reduced from 800 nanometers (0.8 µm) on the left to 350 nanometers (0.35 µm) on the right. That may not seem like much, but half a micrometer back then was huge. See transistor density. (Images courtesy of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.)