Term of the Moment
flash
Redirected from: manufacturing node
Definition: chip feature size
The measurement of an integrated circuit (the chip). The driving force behind the design of integrated circuits is miniaturization, and the technology boils down to the never-ending goal of "make the transistor smaller." Transistors are a toggle switch with an input side (current source) that crosses a gate to the output side (drain). The shorter the distance from source to drain, the faster the transistor switches. Smaller means more computing power per square inch. See transistor toggle 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 feature size refers to various elements of the transistor that are 32 nanometers in size. Also called a "technology node" and "process node," early chips were measured in micrometers (see table below).
New Chips Are Not Always 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 billions every year and some MCUs can sell for less than a dollar 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!
Impossible to fathom, using state-of-the-art technology on state-of-the-art chips, one square millimeter holds more than 100 million transistors. That is roughly an area no larger than the head of a pin! See transistor density.
A Note About Chip Branding
Chips are always improving due to new transistor designs and improved precision from one layer to the next. However, since the 2010s, in order to provide branding continuity, the marketing departments in chip companies decided to keep using ever-decreasing nanometer designations. For example, in 2025, feature sizes were not really two nanometers (see Angstrom era).
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 feature size refers to various elements of the transistor that are 32 nanometers in size. Also called a "technology node" and "process node," early chips were measured in micrometers (see table below).
New Chips Are Not Always 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 billions every year and some MCUs can sell for less than a dollar 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!
Impossible to fathom, using state-of-the-art technology on state-of-the-art chips, one square millimeter holds more than 100 million transistors. That is roughly an area no larger than the head of a pin! See transistor density.
CHIP FEATURE SIZES (approximate)
Nanometers Micrometers
Year (nm) (µm)
1957 120,000 120.0
1963 30,000 30.0
1968 20,000 20.0
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
1989 1,000 1.0
1993 600
1996 350
1998 250
--------------------------------------------
1999 180 high-voltage applications
2001 130 require large feature sizes
2003 90
2005 65 in this group, tons more chips
2008 45 made for automotive, industrial,
2010 32 telecom and consumer electronics
2011 28 (see microcontroller)
---------------------------------------------
2012 22
2014 14
2017 10 this group is more branding
2018 7 than actual feature sizes
2020 5
2022 3 (see next paragraph).
2025 2
2027 1.6
A Note About Chip Branding
Chips are always improving due to new transistor designs and improved precision from one layer to the next. However, since the 2010s, in order to provide branding continuity, the marketing departments in chip companies decided to keep using ever-decreasing nanometer designations. For example, in 2025, feature sizes were not really two nanometers (see Angstrom era).
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.)