Term of the Moment
integrated GPU
Redirected from: node size
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).
All Chips 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 billions 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.
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 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 billions 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
1989 1,000 1.0
1993 600 0.6
1996 350 0.35
1998 250 0.25
1999 180 0.18 * high voltage
2001 130 0.13 * high voltage
2003 90 0.09 * MCU
2005 65 0.065 * MCU
2008 45 0.045 * MCU
2010 32 0.032 * MCU
Pure Marketing From Here On
Chips are always improving because of
new designs but not smaller features.
For continuity, from the 2010s onward,
chips are still branded using ever-
decreasing nanometers as is evident
below. For example, in 2025, chips had
feature sizes around 21 nm; still tiny,
but not one or two nanometers.
See feature size.
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.)