New $3 Billion Facility to Produce Processors with Intel 45nm Hafnium-based High-k Metal Gate Transistors
Production of a new generation of microprocessors for PCs, laptops, servers and other computing devices officially began today inside of Intel Corporation’s first high-volume 45 nanometer (nm) manufacturing factory in Chandler, Ariz.Called “Fab 32,” the $3 billion factory will use Intel’s innovative 45nm process technology based on Intel’s breakthrough in “reinventing” certain areas of the transistors inside its processors to reduce energy leakage.
The 45nm transistors use a Hafnium-based high-k material for the gate dielectric and metal materials for the gate, and are so small that more than 2 million can fit on the period at the end of this sentence. Millions of these tiny transistors will make up Intel’s faster, more energy efficient lead- and halogen-free processors for PCs, laptops and servers, as well as ultra low-power processors for mobile Internet and consumer electronic devices, and low-cost PCs.
With 184,000 square feet of clean room space, the completed Fab 32 structure measures 1 million square feet, so large that more than 17 U.S. football fields could fit inside the building. More than 1,000 employees will operate the factory in such positions as process, automation and yield engineers and senior manufacturing technicians.
Fab 32 will be among Intel’s most environmentally friendly factories, incorporating a number of energy and water conservation measures that have come to characterize Intel’s long track record of environmental stewardship in its operations. The first of the company’s 45nm processors is scheduled to be introduced on Nov. 12.
