By In addition to introducing a high-performance derivative process, Intel announced Tuesday that the company’s Arizona fab has produced the first quantities of its Intel 18A wafers, the manufacturing technology that powers its Panther Lake CPUs. A preview of Intel’s 14A process, a next-generation manufacturing technology that would have “turbo cells” for greater clock rates, was also provided.
In an effort to persuade Wall Street and its clients that its production procedures are back on track, Intel announced the announcements during its Foundry Direct Connect seminar on Tuesday.
The items that consumers will buy have a direct impact on Intel’s process roadmap, even though Intel officials have been promoting their foundry plan on stage. In order to meet the “five nodes in four years” target set by previous CEO Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s next Panther Lake processors will be produced on the company’s 18A manufacturing node. “Nova Lake,” which is scheduled for release in 2026, should be manufactured using Intel’s next-generation 14A technology.
Many of the tiles featured in Intel’s disaggregated CPUs, such as Lunar Lake, are fabricated by foundry partner TSMC; bringing that production in-house will save Intel money and show customers that it can compete with TSMC.
As previously stated by Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, Intel 18A is currently in “risk production” and is expected to enter volume manufacturing this year. Intel 18A features technologies like PowerVia, a backside power delivery architecture that can improve power performance by 4%, and RibbonFET, a next-generation “gate all around” transistor. Another way that Intel indicates that the 18A is ready to use is by stating that it is “ready for full product design start.”
