UBM TechInsights has always been at the forefront of understanding and analyzing the latest in process technology. The 10th Edition of the Insight Awards recognizes the constant innovation in this field with the Most Innovative process technology category. This award is given to the semiconductor who has implemented a new process technology deemed to be the most innovative against its fellow nominees.
The finalists in this category were evaluated by:
- Transistor design & performance
- Process architecture (device dependent – digital/analog mix, memory density, logic/transistor density, layer structure, etc)
- Innovative use of advanced materials & interconnects
The finalists for this category feature entrants to the Insight Awards that introduced new process nodes, new manufacturing techniques and new material structures. These products were chosen from many nominations in a highly competitive field and were selected for the level of innovation they presented.
AMD’s processor from their ‘Llano’ family was selected as a finalist for its achievement in reaching the 32nm process node. This combination CPU and GPU on a single package features the lowest power consumption presented by AMD to date, perfect for its target market of mobile applications.
Xilinx Kintex-7 28nm FPGA
Xilinx receives their first Insight Awards Finalist nomination for their implementation of TSMC’s 28nm high performance low power process (HPL)process in the development of their Kintex-7 FPGA. The true innovation in the Kintex-7 is the first implementation of high-k metal gate technology in an FPGA application.
For being the first to implement High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) technology in conjunction with a gate-first process, Panasonic’s MN2WQS0150 processor is nominated for this award. The true innovation comes from the ease and cost efficiency of this process technology, as Panasonic has instituted a method that requires fewer process steps, setting a new precedent for manufacturing.
IMFT (Intel/Micron) MT29F64G08AAMF1 20nm 64Gbit MLC NAND
Intel and Micron Technology receive their second nomination for the Insight Awards for their latest MLC NAND flash for being the first device manufactured at the 20nm process node. Intel-Micron (or IMFT) has established themselves as a leader in the flash manufacturing process, including winning an Insight Award last year for Most Innovative Memory Process Technology for their 25nm 64Gb (8GB) MLC NAND Flash.
This microcontroller, from the Kinetis K60 family, was selected as a finalist for being the first commercial ARM-based, modern microcontroller with on-chip non-volatile memory made using Split-Gate Thin Film Storage (SG-TFS) technology.
SG-TFS is built with silicon nano-crystals as the storage medium to provide a fast and reliable and memory. Its process is also compatible with standard CMOS technology.
Samsung receives a nomination for the Most Innovative Process Technology category for being the first DRAM device to achieve the 30 nm-class process node. Dubbed the “greenest in the industry” by Samsung, this DRAM was able to achieve improved cost-efficiency and reduced power consumption by scaling down from the previous 40nm, 50nm, and 60nm generations.