In response to incredible customer demand, Intel has doubled its combined 14nm and 10nm manufacturing capacity over the past few years. To do this, the company found innovative ways to deliver more output within existing capacity through yield improvement projects and significant investments in capacity expansion. This video recounts that journey, which even included repurposing existing lab and office space for manufacturing.
“Over the last three years, we have doubled our wafer volume capacity, and that was a significant investment. Moving forward, we’re not stopping… We are continuing to invest into factory capacity to ensure we can keep up with the growing needs of our customers,” says Keyvan Esfarjani, senior vice president and general manager of Manufacturing and Operations at Intel.
The company also ramped its new 10nm process this year. Intel currently manufactures 10nm products in high volumes at its Oregon and Arizona sites in the U.S. and its site in Israel.
In 2020, Intel introduced an expanding lineup of 10nm products including 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processors and the Intel Atom® P5900, a system-on-chip for wireless base stations. In addition, the company introduced 10nm SuperFin technology, which enables the largest single intranode enhancement in Intel’s history and delivers performance improvements comparable to a full-node transition.
Esfarjani explains: “10nm progress is coming along quite well. We have three high-volume manufacturing operations that are going full steam ahead to see how we can do more, better and faster, and continue to support our customers.”
NOTE: Intel’s capacity expansion program has been a multiyear journey. The factory and office footage in this video was captured prior to Covid-19 safety measures. Intel workers currently working on-site observe appropriate social distancing and mask measures in accordance with internal policies and local requirements.
Tags: Keyvan Esfarjani