Definition: angstrom era

The angstrom era refers to the precision in today's chip making machines that are able to align the next lithographic plate within one to two nanometers (10 to 20 angstroms) over the previous layer. We are definitely in the angstrom era.

Angstrom Branding Is Not Really in Angstroms
Since the beginning of processor manufacturing in the 1950s, the size of the elements in a transistor have been shrinking from as large as 120,000 nanometers to approximately 30 nanometers today. Starting in the 1990s, this "feature size" was turned into a brand, and every couple years, the number got smaller.

Around the 2010s, actual feature sizes were no longer shrinking all that much; however, improvements to transistor design and manufacturing were, and are, constantly being made. In order to keep the branding uniform and not start an entirely new brand sequence, chip vendors kept applying ever-decreasing nanometer numbers to their new generations of chips. However, after 30 nanometers, the decreasing nanometer brand turned into just a brand and no longer a real measurement of the elements of a transistor.

There are approximately 10 angstroms per nanometer, and to keep the brand an ever-decreasing number, once the branding reached one nanometer, angstroms were used. For example, Intel has used 18A and 20A. To review the full evolution, see chip feature size, angstrom and Intel node names.

Angstroms Are In!

This banner was At the HumanX AI conference in Las Vegas in March 2025. Angstroms sound really high tech, and we are, in fact, entering the angstrom era in precision.