Intel's new RibbonFET technology, the company's implementation of a gate-all-around transistor, is displayed as part of the "Intel Accelerated" event on July 26, 2021. At the event, Intel presented the company's future process and packaging technology roadmaps.
As Intel launches its new foundry business, its first customers include Qualcomm and Amazon Web Services, the chipmaker said Monday. Intel also shared the process and packaging technology roadmap that will take its product development through 2025, detailing new innovations and a new naming structure for its process nodes.
"Building on Intel's unquestioned leadership in advanced packaging, we are accelerating our innovation roadmap to ensure we are on a clear path to process performance leadership by 2025," Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said during a webcast Monday. "The innovations unveiled today will not only enable Intel's product roadmap; they will also be critical for our foundry customers."
Qualcomm will be using Intel's upcoming 20A process technology, which is expected to ramp in 2024. Intel 20A will rely on two new technologies, RibbonFET and PowerVia. RibbonFET is Intel's first new transistor architecture since FinFET in 2011. It delivers faster transistor switching speeds while achieving the same drive current as multiple fins in a smaller footprint. PowerVia is Intel's industry-first implementation of backside power delivery, which optimizes signal transmission by eliminating the need for power routing on the front side of the wafer.
AWS, meanwhile, will be the first customer to use Intel Foundry Services' packaging solutions.
Back in March, Gelsinger shared his plan to make Intel a "world-class foundry business." The company's new manufacturing plan, called IDM 2.0, will make Intel once again a leader in process technology, he said.
Below is more information on Intel's roadmap, including its new node names and innovations. Intel is adopting a new node naming structure, the company said, since the traditional nanometer-based process node naming hasn't matched the actual gate-length metric since 1997.