45 nm process

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "45 nm process" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Semiconductor device fabrication
MOSFET scaling (process nodes)
020 μm – 1968 010 μm – 1971 006 μm – 1974 003 μm – 1977  1.5 μm – 1981 001 μm – 1984 800 nm – 1987 600 nm – 1990 350 nm – 1993 250 nm – 1996 180 nm – 1999 130 nm – 2001 090 nm – 2003 065 nm – 2005 045 nm – 2007 032 nm – 2009 028 nm – 2010 022 nm – 2012 014 nm – 2014 010 nm – 2016 007 nm – 2018 005 nm – 2020 003 nm – 2022
Future 002 nm ~ 2025
Half-nodes Density CMOS Device (multi-gate) Moore's law Transistor count Semiconductor Industry Nanoelectronics
v t e

Per the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, the 45 nm process is a MOSFET technology node referring to the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured at around the 2007–2008 time frame.

Matsushita and Intel started mass-producing 45 nm chips in late 2007, and AMD started production of 45 nm chips in late 2008, while IBM, Infineon, Samsung, and Chartered Semiconductor have already completed a common 45 nm process platform. At the end of 2008, SMIC was the first China-based semiconductor company to move to 45 nm, having licensed the bulk 45 nm process from IBM. In 2008, TSMC moved on to a 40 nm process.

Many critical feature sizes are smaller than the wavelength of light used for lithography (i.e., 193 nm and 248 nm). A variety of techniques, such as larger lenses, are used to make sub-wavelength features. Double patterning has also been introduced to assist in shrinking distances between features, especially if dry lithography is used. It is expected that more layers will be patterned with 193 nm wavelength at the 45 nm node. Moving previously loose layers (such as Metal 4 and Metal 5) from 248 nm to 193 nm wavelength is expected to continue, which will likely further drive costs upward, due to difficulties with 193 nm photoresists.