The 22 nanometer (22 nm) is the next CMOS process step following the 32 nm step on the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). The typical half-pitch (i.e., half the distance between identical features in an array) for a memory cell using the process is around 22 nm. It was first introduced by semiconductor companies in 2008 for use in memory products, while first consumer-level CPU deliveries started in April 2012.

The ITRS 2006 Front End Process Update indicates that equivalent physical oxide thickness will not scale below 0.5 nm (about twice the diameter of a silicon atom), which is the expected value at the 22 nm node. This is an indication that CMOS scaling in this area has reached a wall at this point, possibly disturbing Moore's law.

On the ITRS roadmap, the successor to 22 nm technology will be 16 nm technology.

Technology demos[link]

On August 18, 2008, AMD, Freescale, IBM, STMicroelectronics, Toshiba, and the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) announced that they jointly developed and manufactured a 22 nm SRAM cell, built on a traditional six-transistor design on a 300 mm wafer, which had a memory cell size of just 0.1 μm².^[1] The cell was printed using immersion lithography.^[2]

The 22 nm node may be the first time where the gate length is not necessarily smaller than the technology mode designation. For example, a 25 nm gate length would be typical for the 22 nm node.

On September 22, 2009, during the Intel Developer Forum Fall 2009, Intel showed a 22 nm wafer and announced that chips with 22 nm technology would be available in the second half of 2011.^[3] SRAM cell size is said to be 0.092 μm², smallest reported to date.

On January 3, 2010, Intel and Micron Technology Inc. announced the first in a family of 25 nm NAND devices.

On May 2, 2011, Intel announced its first 22 nm microprocessor, codenamed Ivy Bridge, using a technology called 3-D Tri-Gate.^[4]

On October 19, 2011, Intel CEO Paul Otellini confirmed that Ivy Bridge 22 nm processor volume production has already begun.^[5]

Shipping Devices[link]

On August 31, 2010, Toshiba announced that they are shipping 24 nm flash memory NAND devices.^[6]

In 2010, Hynix Semiconductor announced that it could produce a 26 nm flash chip with 64 Gb capacity; Intel Corp. and Micron Technology had by then already developed the technology themselves.^[7]

On April 23, 2012, Intel Core i7 and Intel Core i5 processors based on Intel's Ivy Bridge 22 nm technology for series 7 chip-sets went on sale worldwide.^[8]

References[link]