28 nm process

The "28 nm" lithography process is a half-node semiconductor manufacturing process based on a die shrink of the "32 nm" lithography process.^[1] It appeared in production in 2010.^[2]

Since at least 1997, "process nodes" have been named purely on a marketing basis, and have no direct relation to the dimensions on the integrated circuit;^[3] neither gate length, metal pitch or gate pitch on a "28 nm" device is twenty-eight nanometers.^[4][5][6][7]

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has offered "28 nm" production using high-K metal gate process technology.^[8]

GlobalFoundries offers a "28 nm" foundry process called the "28SLPe" ("28 nm Super Low Power") foundry process, which uses high-K metal gate technology.^[9]

According to a 2016 presentation by Sophie Wilson, 28 nm has the lowest cost per logic gate. Cost per gate had decreased as processes shrunk until reaching 28 nm, and has slowly risen since then.^[10]

Design

"28 nm" requires twice the number of design rules for ensuring reliability in manufacturing as "80 nm".^[11]

Shipped devices

AMD's Radeon HD 7970 uses a graphics processing unit manufactured using a "28 nm" process.^[12]

Some models of the PS3 use a RSX 'Reality Synthesizer' chip manufactured using a "28 nm" process.^[13]

FPGAs produced with "28 nm" process technology include models of the Xilinx Artix 7 FPGAs and Altera Cyclone V FPGAs.^[14]