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Q&A What fabrication process is being used for jellybean parts

[I used to work at Microchip.] Is it [node size] at all important [for power management ICs] ? For power conversion ICs cutting edge MOSFETs on the scale of 5nm aren't important, because powe...

posted 5mo ago by Nick Alexeev‭  ·  edited 5mo ago by Nick Alexeev‭

Answer
#5: Post edited by user avatar Nick Alexeev‭ · 2023-12-01T14:35:52Z (5 months ago)
  • [I used to work at Microchip.]
  • > Is it possible to find out what fabrication process, wafer size, etc these jellybean parts are made of?
  • You're asking for insider information. For any given jellybean its fabrication process, wafer size, name of the contract fab is proprietary information of the given manufacturer. The closest you can get to that information from the outside is by looking at capabilities of contract semiconductor fabs; you may glean some coarse aggregate picture. Usually the details of the contract fab capabilities are behind an NDA too.
  • > Is it [node size] at all important [for power management ICs] ?
  • For power conversion ICs cutting edge MOSFETs on the scale of 5nm aren't important, because power MOSFETs are large. Larger scale MOSFETs (older generation processes) are cheaper than the cutting edge. So, it doesn't make a lot of sense to push the scale when that doesn't give an edge.
  • > Is it even possible or makes sense to make such chips [power management ICs] in cutting-edge 4nm and 5nm processes?
  • Yes, it should be possible. But would that give you an edge?
  • If DSP is required for power conversion, then it would probably be done with a chipset where DSP and power stage are made with different processes.
  • [I used to work at Microchip.]
  • > Is it [node size] at all important [for power management ICs] ?
  • For power conversion ICs cutting edge MOSFETs on the scale of 5nm aren't important, because power MOSFETs are large. Larger scale MOSFETs (older generation processes) are cheaper than the cutting edge. So, it doesn't make a lot of sense to push the scale when that doesn't give an edge.
  • > Is it even possible or makes sense to make such chips [power management ICs] in cutting-edge 4nm and 5nm processes?
  • Yes, it should be possible. But would that give you an edge?
  • If DSP is required for power conversion, then it would probably be done with a chipset where DSP and power stage are made with different processes.
  • > Is it possible to find out what fabrication process, wafer size, etc these jellybean parts are made of?
  • You're asking for insider information. For any given jellybean its fabrication process, wafer size, name of the contract fab is proprietary information of the given manufacturer. The closest you can get to that information from the outside is by looking at capabilities of contract semiconductor fabs; you may glean some coarse aggregate picture. Usually the details of the contract fab capabilities are behind an NDA too.
#4: Post edited by user avatar Nick Alexeev‭ · 2023-12-01T13:59:53Z (5 months ago)
  • [I used to work at Microchip.]
  • > Is it possible to find out what fabrication process, wafer size, etc these jellybean parts are made of?
  • You're asking for insider information. For any given jellybean its fabrication process, wafer size, name of the contract fab is proprietary information of the given manufacturer. The closest you can get to that information is by looking at capabilities of contract semiconductor fabs; you may glean some coarse aggregate picture. Usually the details of the contract fab capabilities are behind an NDA too.
  • > Is it [node size] at all important [for power management ICs] ?
  • For power conversion ICs cutting edge MOSFETs on the scale of 5nm aren't important, because power MOSFETs are large. Larger scale MOSFETs (older generation) are cheaper than the cutting edge. So, it doesn't make a lot of sense to push the scale when that doesn't give an edge.
  • > Is it even possible or makes sense to make such chips [power management ICs] in cutting-edge 4nm and 5nm processes?
  • Yes, it should be possible. But would that give you an edge?
  • If DSP is required for power conversion, then it would probably be done with a chipset where DSP and power stage are made with different processes.
  • [I used to work at Microchip.]
  • > Is it possible to find out what fabrication process, wafer size, etc these jellybean parts are made of?
  • You're asking for insider information. For any given jellybean its fabrication process, wafer size, name of the contract fab is proprietary information of the given manufacturer. The closest you can get to that information from the outside is by looking at capabilities of contract semiconductor fabs; you may glean some coarse aggregate picture. Usually the details of the contract fab capabilities are behind an NDA too.
  • > Is it [node size] at all important [for power management ICs] ?
  • For power conversion ICs cutting edge MOSFETs on the scale of 5nm aren't important, because power MOSFETs are large. Larger scale MOSFETs (older generation processes) are cheaper than the cutting edge. So, it doesn't make a lot of sense to push the scale when that doesn't give an edge.
  • > Is it even possible or makes sense to make such chips [power management ICs] in cutting-edge 4nm and 5nm processes?
  • Yes, it should be possible. But would that give you an edge?
  • If DSP is required for power conversion, then it would probably be done with a chipset where DSP and power stage are made with different processes.
#3: Post edited by user avatar Nick Alexeev‭ · 2023-11-30T18:10:03Z (5 months ago)
  • [I used to work at Microchip.]
  • > Is it possible to find out what fabrication process, wafer size, etc these jellybean parts are made of?
  • You're asking for insider information. For any given jellybean its fabrication process, wafer size, name of the contract fab is proprietary information of the given manufacturer. The closest you can get to that information is by looking at capabilities of contract semiconductor fabs; you may glean some coarse aggregate picture. Usually the details of the contract fab capabilities are behind an NDA too.
  • > Is it [node size] at all important [for power management ICs] ?
  • For power conversion ICs cutting edge MOSFETs on the scale of 5nm aren't important, because power MOSFETs are large. Larger scale MOSFETs (older generation) are usually cheaper than the cutting edge. So, it doesn't make a lot of sense to push the scale when that doesn't give an edge.
  • > Is it even possible or makes sense to make such chips [power management ICs] in cutting-edge 4nm and 5nm processes?
  • Yes, it should be possible. But would that give you an edge?
  • If DSP is required for power conversion, then it would probably be done with a chipset where DSP and power stage are made with different processes.
  • [I used to work at Microchip.]
  • > Is it possible to find out what fabrication process, wafer size, etc these jellybean parts are made of?
  • You're asking for insider information. For any given jellybean its fabrication process, wafer size, name of the contract fab is proprietary information of the given manufacturer. The closest you can get to that information is by looking at capabilities of contract semiconductor fabs; you may glean some coarse aggregate picture. Usually the details of the contract fab capabilities are behind an NDA too.
  • > Is it [node size] at all important [for power management ICs] ?
  • For power conversion ICs cutting edge MOSFETs on the scale of 5nm aren't important, because power MOSFETs are large. Larger scale MOSFETs (older generation) are cheaper than the cutting edge. So, it doesn't make a lot of sense to push the scale when that doesn't give an edge.
  • > Is it even possible or makes sense to make such chips [power management ICs] in cutting-edge 4nm and 5nm processes?
  • Yes, it should be possible. But would that give you an edge?
  • If DSP is required for power conversion, then it would probably be done with a chipset where DSP and power stage are made with different processes.
#2: Post edited by user avatar Nick Alexeev‭ · 2023-11-30T18:08:48Z (5 months ago)
  • [I used to work at Microchip.]
  • > Is it possible to find out what fabrication process, wafer size, etc these jellybean parts are made of?
  • You're asking for insider information. For any given jellybean its fabrication process, wafer size, name of the contract fab is proprietary information of the given manufacturer. The closest you can get to that information is by looking at capabilities of contract semiconductor fabs; you may glean some coarse aggregate picture. Usually the details of the contract fab capabilities are behind an NDA too.
  • > Is it [node size] at all important [for power management ICs] ?
  • For power conversion ICs cutting edge MOSFETs on the scale of 5nm aren't important, because power MOSFETs are large. Larger scale MOSFETs (older generation MOSFETS) are usually cheaper than the cutting edge. So, it doesn't make a lot of sense to push the scale when that doesn't give an edge.
  • > Is it even possible or makes sense to make such chips [power management chips] in cutting-edge 4nm and 5nm processes?
  • Yes, it should be possible. But would that give you an edge?
  • If DSP is required for power conversion, then it would probably be done with a chipset where DSP and power stage are made with different processes.
  • [I used to work at Microchip.]
  • > Is it possible to find out what fabrication process, wafer size, etc these jellybean parts are made of?
  • You're asking for insider information. For any given jellybean its fabrication process, wafer size, name of the contract fab is proprietary information of the given manufacturer. The closest you can get to that information is by looking at capabilities of contract semiconductor fabs; you may glean some coarse aggregate picture. Usually the details of the contract fab capabilities are behind an NDA too.
  • > Is it [node size] at all important [for power management ICs] ?
  • For power conversion ICs cutting edge MOSFETs on the scale of 5nm aren't important, because power MOSFETs are large. Larger scale MOSFETs (older generation) are usually cheaper than the cutting edge. So, it doesn't make a lot of sense to push the scale when that doesn't give an edge.
  • > Is it even possible or makes sense to make such chips [power management ICs] in cutting-edge 4nm and 5nm processes?
  • Yes, it should be possible. But would that give you an edge?
  • If DSP is required for power conversion, then it would probably be done with a chipset where DSP and power stage are made with different processes.
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Nick Alexeev‭ · 2023-11-30T18:06:07Z (5 months ago) 
[I used to work at Microchip.]

> Is it possible to find out what fabrication process, wafer size, etc these jellybean parts are made of?

You're asking for insider information.  For any given jellybean its fabrication process, wafer size, name of the contract fab is proprietary information of the given manufacturer.  The closest you can get to that information is by looking at capabilities of contract semiconductor fabs; you may glean some coarse aggregate picture.  Usually the details of the contract fab capabilities are behind an NDA too.

> Is it [node size] at all important [for power management ICs] ? 

For power conversion ICs cutting edge MOSFETs on the scale of 5nm aren't important, because power MOSFETs are large.  Larger scale MOSFETs (older generation MOSFETS) are usually cheaper than the cutting edge.  So, it doesn't make a lot of sense to push the scale when that doesn't give an edge.

> Is it even possible or makes sense to make such chips [power management chips] in cutting-edge 4nm and 5nm processes?

Yes, it should be possible.  But would that give you an edge?

If DSP is required for power conversion, then it would probably be done with a chipset where DSP and power stage are made with different processes.