GlobalFoundries’ 7nm process is set to make Intel’s process leadership evaporate

For the past number of years, Intel has been one of the world leaders when it comes to silicon manufacturing/process technology. Intel was the first to introduce FinFET technology, beating most competing foundries to the punch by several years, though in recent times the company has found it increasingly difficult to push their next-generation 10nm node to market. 

A lot of Intel’s recent difficulties can be attributed to physics.  Decreasing node sizes introduces unique problems that only become more complex as transistors get smaller and products become more logic dense. These issues have slowed down the evolution of process technology, leading many to explore the use of new materials of r future processors. 

Intel’s upcoming 10nm process has been delayed several times, giving competing foundries an ideal opportunity to catch up with Intel, with Globalfoundries making a bold jump from 14nm to 7nm, bringing the company into striking range of Intel’s 10nm process. 

The delay of EUV (Extreme Ultra Violet) technology to market has slowed down the production of next-generation nodes significantly, with the technology being slated to take the world to the limits of silicon, with Samsung planning to go all the way down to 3nm. Globalfoundries plans to integrate EUV technology into their 7nm LP (Leading performance) node, but initial offerings will not be making use of the new technology. 

Globalfoundries upcoming 7nm node is already set to be the home for AMD’s upcoming Zen2 and Navi CPU/GPU architectures, promising a 2x increase in transistor density and a 40% increase in performance or a 55% decrease in power consumption. This makes the jump from 14nm to 7nm a transformative leap for GlobalFoundries, with semiwiki noting that “Intel’s 10nm process to GF’s 7nm process they are more similar than they are different”. It appears that Intel’s process leadership is starting to disappear, which is great news for AMD’s future processors. 

For the past number of years, Intel has been one of the world leaders when it comes to silicon manufacturing/process technology. Intel was the first to introduce FinFET technology, beating most competing foundries to the punch by several years, though in recent times the company has found it increasingly difficult to push their next-generation 10nm node to market. 

A lot of Intel’s recent difficulties can be attributed to physics.  Decreasing node sizes introduces unique problems that only become more complex as transistors get smaller and products become more logic dense. These issues have slowed down the evolution of process technology, leading many to explore the use of new materials in future processors. 

Intel’s upcoming 10nm process has been delayed several times, giving competing foundries an ideal opportunity to catch up with Intel, with Globalfoundries making a bold jump from 14nm to 7nm, bringing the company into striking range of Intel’s 10nm process. 

The delay of EUV (Extreme Ultra Violet) technology to market has slowed down the production of next-generation nodes significantly, with the technology being slated to take the world to the limits of silicon, with Samsung planning to go all the way down to 3nm. Globalfoundries plans to integrate EUV technology into their 7nm LP (Leading performance) node, but initial offerings will not be making use of the new technology. 

Globalfoundries upcoming 7nm node is already set to be the home for AMD’s upcoming Zen2 and Navi CPU/GPU architectures, promising a 2x increase in transistor density and a 40% increase in performance or a 55% decrease in power consumption. This makes the jump from 14nm to 7nm a transformative leap for GlobalFoundries, with semiwiki noting that “Intel’s 10nm process to GF’s 7nm process they are more similar than they are different”. It appears that Intel’s process leadership is starting to disappear, which is great news for AMD’s future processors.