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Absolute_Authority t1_iuhg56j wrote

Reply to comment by TheLianeonProject in TSMC reportedly building 1nm chip fab in northern Taiwan by Saltedline

Transistor sizes as '1nm' or '5nm' is just branding similar to Iphone 12 or Iphone 13. They aren't actually physically that small. It did used to actually be the size it was named but precisely because of the slowing pace of innovation you mentioned its become a marketing gimmick.

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DavidBrooker t1_iuj8w47 wrote

There are structures at the scale in the name, but which structure they're referring to is ambiguous between different manufacturers (and sometimes generations). Intel's 14nm has similar transistor pitch to TSMC's 7nm process, for instance, and both have transistor pitches on the order of 40nm.

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burner9752 t1_iuiz73j wrote

This used to be only true for intel, tsmc was using the correct size to naming scheme in the past.

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TheLianeonProject t1_iuhkdbg wrote

I know, but nonetheless, we are approaching a physical limit to the size of transistors.

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IgnobleQuetzalcoatl t1_iuhspjs wrote

I don't think you knew that given the first sentence in your original comment. I didn't either. After some quick googling, looks like the 5nm process has transistors spaced around 51nm at minimum.

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