3 μm process

The 3 μm process (3 micrometer process) is the level of MOSFET semiconductor process technology that was reached around 1977,^[1][2] by companies such as Intel.

The 3 μm process refers to the minimum size that could be reliably produced. The smallest transistors and other circuit elements on a chip made with this process were around 3 micrometers wide.

Products featuring 3 μm manufacturing process

• Intel's 8085, 8086, 8088 CPU's launched in 1976, 1978, 1979, respectively, were manufactured using its 3.2 μm NMOS (HMOS) process.^{[1] [failed verification]}.^{[3][dubious – discuss]}
• Hitachi's 4 kbit HM6147 SRAM memory chip, launched in 1978, introduced the twin-well CMOS process, at 3 μm.^[4]
• Motorola 68000 (MC68000) CPU, launched in 1979, was originally fabricated using an HMOS process with a 3.5 μm feature size.^{[5][circular reference]}
• The ARM1 was launched in 1985 and manufactured on a 3 μm process.^[6]

References

1. Mueller, S (21 July 2006). "Microprocessors from 1971 to the Present". informIT. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
2. Myslewski, R (15 November 2011). "Happy 40th birthday, Intel 4004!". TheRegister.
3. "History of the Intel Microprocessor - Listoid". Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
4. "1978: Double-well fast CMOS SRAM (Hitachi)" (PDF). Semiconductor History Museum of Japan. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
5. Motorola 68000
6. "ARM's Race to Embedded World Domination".

Preceded by 6 μm process

MOSFET semiconductor device fabrication process

Succeeded by 1.5 μm process