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Intel’s Penryn @ 45nm

Intel gives us a quick look into their next-generation processor, codenamed “Penryn,” that is due to be available in late 2007. This is certainly some technology that could give Intel a further leg up on the competition.

Intel’s Penryn @ 45nm

Intel has just announced a significant breakthrough in its transistor technology used in its next generation 45nm Penryn processors. The hundreds of millions of microscopic next generation transistors, used in the new Penryn family of processors (Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Core 2 Quad and Xeon family) will feature new high-k + metal gate material that will allow for higher frequencies, lower resistance, less leakage and lower power consumption.

Aside from the simple fact that the new 45nm process will allow for double transistor density over current generation processors, Intel also promises that the new microarchitecture will offer a significant performance-per-watt increase over current 65nm technology. Other benefits of the new 45nm process and high-k and metal gate combination will be:

• Significant reduction in transistor switching power
• Improvement in transistor switching speed
• Reduction in source-drain leakage power
• Reduction in gate oxide leakage power
• Greater energy efficiency

Intel claims that the new high-k + metal gate transistors are the biggest advancement in transistor technology in over forty years and that working 45nm processors have already been made using the new high-k + metal gate transistors. For those of you wondering what the term high-k means, a brief explanation is:

"A material that can replace silicon dioxide as a gate dielectric. It has good insulating properties and creates high-field effect (hence the term “high-k”) between the gate and channel. Both are desirable properties for high-performance transistors. “k” (actually the Greek letter kappa) is an engineering term for the ability of a material to hold electric charge. Think of a sponge: it can hold a lot of water. Wood can hold some, but not as much. Glass can’t hold any at all. Similarly, some materials can store charge better than others, and hence have a higher “k” value. Also, because high-k materials can be thicker than silicon dioxide – while retaining the same desirable properties – they greatly reduce leakage."

During a press briefing earlier today, Intel stated that the very first 45nm processor was already up and running and used by the Intel validation team to successfully boot a test system into Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OS X and Linux.

Before we get into the heart of the 45nm product announcement and subsequent slide presentation, let’s take a look at the official press release from Intel:

Since the invention of the first transistor in 1947, technology has progressed swiftly, paving the way for more advanced and powerful, yet more cost-effective and energy-efficient products. Despite these advances, transistor heat and electric current leakage remain critical barriers to making transistors smaller and perpetuating Moore’s Law. It is not surprising that some of the materials used to make transistors in the last 40 years need to be replaced.

Intel has developed breakthrough materials for its 45 nanometer (nm) transistors that, when combined, produce a transistor with very low current leakage and record high performance. With the first working processor – part of the “Penryn” family of next-generation Intel® Core 2 and Xeon® families of processors – developed using its 45nm manufacturing process technology, Intel has successfully addressed these difficult barriers to drive the progression of Moore’s Law. Removing these roadblocks will ultimately deliver energy-efficient, low-cost, high-performance computing products from laptops and mobile devices to desktop PCs and servers.

During today’s press briefing, Intel provided a handful of slides that outline the transition to 45nm technology and the remarkable new high-k+metal gate technology that will be replacing the polysilicon gate technology used in current generation processors.

This series of slides showcase the difference between a standard polysilicon gate and the new high-k+metal gate technology. The new metal gate increases the gate field effect, allows for use of a thicker dielectric layer to reduce gate leakage and offer twenty percent higher performance.

Although the specific metal gate and high-k materials are not being disclosed at this time, the handy layer by layer breakdown of the new material will give you a idea how the new technology works.

The new Penryn family processors (server, workstation, desktop and mobile), in addition to performance increases and new capabilities, will also incorporate new Intel SSE4 instructions, higher energy efficiency and new power management modes.

Not only is the new 45nm processor design out of fab and working, Intel says that 45nm is on track for production ramp up by the end of the year. 45nm parts will be in full production by the second half of this year in both its D1D Oregon fab as well as Fab 32 in Arizona. Fab 28 is still under construction but is expected to be cranking out 45nm parts in the first half of 2008.