Unveiling the secrets of Intel 3: Helping the next generation of products achieve a leap in performance and energy efficiency!

Recently, Intel has achieved mass production of the Intel 3 process node as scheduled in accordance with its "four-year five process nodes" plan. The first product using this node, the Intel® Xeon® 6 Energy Efficient Core processor code-named Sierra Forest, has been launched to the market. The new product is aimed at data centers and is born for the cloud, bringing a double improvement in performance and energy efficiency. The Intel® Xeon® 6 Performance Core processor (code-named Granite Rapids), which is expected to be launched in the third quarter of 2024, will also be built on Intel 3.

How does Intel 3 process technology help new products achieve a leap forward?

Compared with the previous process node Intel 4, Intel 3 achieved about 0.9 times the logic shrink and 17% performance per watt improvement. The current practice in the semiconductor industry is that the naming of process nodes is no longer based on the actual physical feature size of the transistor, but is based on a certain percentage of performance and energy efficiency improvement. Compared with the general industry standard, Intel 3's 17% is a higher level of improvement. In addition, compared with Intel 4, Intel is more proficient in the use of EUV (extreme ultraviolet lithography) technology, and has increased the use of EUV in more production processes of Intel 3. Intel 3 also introduced a higher density design library, improved transistor drive current, and optimized the interconnect technology stack by reducing through-hole resistance. It should also be emphasized that thanks to the practical experience of Intel 4, Intel 3 has also achieved faster production increases.

In the future, Intel will also launch multiple evolutionary versions of Intel 3 to meet the diverse needs of customers. In response to the huge demand for advanced packaging in the AI ​​era, Intel 3-T will optimize 3D stacking by using through-silicon via technology; Intel 3-E will achieve functional expansion, such as RF and voltage adjustment; Intel 3-PT will achieve at least 5% performance improvement while adding through-silicon via technology.

Intel 3 is an important node, and its mass production marks the entry of the "four-year five-process node" plan into the "sprint stage" . Next, Intel will usher in the "Angstrom era" of semiconductors, and more new technologies will be put into use. Intel 20A will begin production in the second half of 2024 with Arrow Lake client processors, and Intel 18A will begin production in 2025 with Clearwater Forest server processors and Panther Lake client processors, and will be open to Intel foundry customers.