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Monday, 04/19/2004 12:41:18 PM

Monday, April 19, 2004 12:41:18 PM

Post# of 97433
AMD starts 90-nm Opteron manufacturing at Dresden

By Peter Clarke
Silicon Strategies
04/19/2004, 12:09 PM ET

http://www.siliconstrategies.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18902029

MUNICH, Germany -- U.S. processor and flash memory maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has begun using a 90-nanometer silicon-on-insulator (SOI) manufacturing process at its Fab30 in Dresden, Germany, according to Thomas Sunderman, a director of manufacturing technology within AMD's corporate manufacturing group.

AMD expects commercial shipment of products made using the 90-nm process to begin in the third quarter, Sonderman said.

The move saves about 40 percent of the die area compared with the established 130-nm process and should have a similar bearing on AMD's costs until the company introduces 300-mm wafer processing now expected early in 2006.

The 90-nm AMD64 is in active pilot mode in Fab 30 and prototype parts are running in systems, Sonderman said. Sonderman added that strained-silicon would be introduced by AMD at the same manufacturing process node.

Although no official word was given on the first product to migrate to the 90-nm process, all the material in a presentation from Sonderman given the day before the Semicon Europa exhibition here, referred to the AMD64 family of Opteron and Athlon chips and the AMD 64-bit Opteron processor in particular. "There are no plans to migrate the classic Athlon to 90-nm," Sonderman confirmed.

Sonderman said that the 90-nanometer process would come in with all the advanced features acquired during previous generations; including copper interconnect, a Black Diamond low-k technology, and as an SOI process with the base wafers provided by Soitec SA.

The combination would give a "significant power saving," Sonderman said, but refused to quantify this saying it would be revealed when AMD announces 90-nm products.

In its 130-nm SOI process an Opteron with an 8-Mbit cache occupies 194 square millimeters but the move to 90-nm has reduced the die size to 114 square millimeters Sonderman said showing the prototype die in his presentation.

The 90-nm process has started with a nine-layer interconnect back-end to match the 130-nm process to allow easy transition of established products, but that for new or re-laid products the process would be extended to 11 layers.

Sonderman said the use of SOI at the 130-nm process node had reduced processor power consumption to the 45-W to 55-W mark and that the shrink to 90-nm would produce an additional benefit.

"It's reducing power significantly...gives AMD the freedom to boost performance or lower power." When asked what features would be added to the process Sonderman said: "Strained silicon is one of the things you are going to be seeing from AMD at 90-nm."









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