GlobalFoundries: 12nm offers 10 percent performance improvement

ExtremeTech writes GlobalFoundries is close to entering pilot production of its 7nm node at the Fab 8 plant in Malta, New York. This new process technology promises big gains, GlobalFoundries claims its 7nm process offers 60 percent reduced power, or up to 40 percent higher performance, versus the 14nm node.

Interestingly, GlobalFoundries also offered some details about the 12nm node that will be used by AMD's upcoming Ryzen 2000 series. It appears this process offers up to 10 percent higher performance, or a 15 percent density increase, versus 14nm.

On a related note, GlobalFoundries also shared some details about how it will implement extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology on the 7nm node. ASML has made great advances with EUV, but at this point it's still not usable for the complete process.

GlobalFoundries’ solution? Use EUV for contacts and vias while a pellicle solution is being worked on. Since you don’t need one for these areas of the chip, you can increase EUV throughput and reduce cycle time. Going forward, GF will adopt EUV for more critical mask layers. The CTO and SVP of Worldwide R&D at GF, Dr. Gary Patton, has suggested EUV is a functional requirement for 5nm or below. The sheer number of masks required at that point could otherwise make it infeasible for any customer to justify using the technology.