Overview
- Intel announced on Tuesday that its 18A-P process has entered risk production, a low-volume stage used to collect defect, performance and variability data before full qualification and mass manufacturing.
- The company says 18A-P delivers either 9% higher performance at the same power or 18% lower power at the same performance and introduces a dual-contact 'Power Boost' transistor that raises drive current and frequency.
- Intel reported material and design changes that cut thermal resistance by 20–40% and via resistance by 10–30%, and added a new threshold-voltage option to give designers more power‑vs‑speed choices.
- The node is fully design-rule compatible with existing 18A libraries, which lets customers reuse IP and design flows to lower migration cost, but outside customer commitments remain conditional on yield and qualification.
- At VLSI Intel also showed longer-range research — CFET vertical devices, 300mm GaN+Si integration for on-chip power, and subtractive ruthenium interconnects — signalling possible scaling paths that matter for AI and data‑center efficiency.