Intel has announced its 18A milestones which are now booted with two next-gen product families, the Panther Lake Client & Clearwater Forest server CPUs.
Intel 18A Is On-Track For Production In 1H 2025 As Panther Lake & Clearwater Forest CPUs Now Booted, First External Product To Tape-Out On 18A In 1H 2025 Too
As a follow-up to its Q2 earnings call, Intel is once again reaffirming the progress of its next-gen 18A process node and the respective products. The 18A node will be used by the Panther Lake CPUs for clients in 2H 2025 and also shipping in Clearwater Forest CPUs for servers in 2025. Intel says that it has achieved the milestone in less than two quarters after the tape out which shows the health of 18A process technology.
What’s New: Intel today announced that its lead products on Intel 18A, Panther Lake (AI PC client processor) and Clearwater Forest (server processor), are out of the fab and have powered-on and booted operating systems. These milestones were achieved less than two quarters after tape-out, with both products on track to start production in 2025. The company also announced that the first external customer is expected to tape out on Intel 18A in the first half of next year.
More on Intel 18A: In July, Intel released the 18A Process Design Kit (PDK) 1.0, design tools that enable foundry customers to harness the capabilities of RibbonFET gate-all-around transistor architecture and PowerVia backside power delivery in their designs on Intel 18A. Electronic design automation (EDA) and intellectual property (IP) partners are updating their offerings to enable customers to begin their final production designs.
Why It Matters: These milestones show Intel Foundry is the first to successfully implement both RibbonFET gate-all-around transistors and PowerVia backside power technology for foundry customers. Through ecosystem EDA and IP tools and process flows, RibbonFET and PowerVia are groundbreaking innovations that Intel Foundry makes available to all customers through Intel 18A. Working in concert with its resilient, more sustainable and trusted manufacturing capacity and supply chain, as well as the industry’s leading advanced packaging technology, Intel Foundry brings together all the components needed to design and manufacture next-generation AI solutions that scale and run more efficiently.
How It Works: In successfully booting operating systems without additional configurations or modifications, both Panther Lake and Clearwater Forest are clearly indicating the health of Intel 18A — the company’s leading-edge process technology that is expected to return Intel to process leadership in 2025. Other signs of health include Panther Lake DDR memory performance already running at target frequency. Next year's Clearwater Forest, the archetype of future CPU and AI chips, will mark the industry's first mass-produced, high-performance solution combining RibbonFET, PowerVia, and Foveros Direct 3D for higher density and power handling. Clearwater Forest is also the lead product for the Intel 3-T base-die technology. Leveraging Intel Foundry’s systems foundry approach, both products are expected to deliver significant improvements in performance per watt, transistor density and cell utilization.
How Customers are Involved: In gaining access to the Intel 18A PDK 1.0 last month, the company’s EDA and IP partners are updating their tools and design flows to enable external foundry customers to begin their Intel 18A chip designs. This is a critical enabling milestone for Intel’s foundry business.
via Intel
The Intel Panther Lake CPUs for clients will utilize the next-gen Cougar Cove P-Core architecture and an updated version of the Skymont core which will make its debut next month with the Intel Lunar Lake CPUs. These chips will be targeted at the "AI PC" segment, scaling from desktops to laptops. Meanwhile, Clearwater Forest is going to be the next-gen follow-up to Sierra Forest, with up to 288 cores based on the Darkmont core architecture.
Panther Lake and Clearwater Forest, lead products on Intel 18A, are out of the fab, powered on, have booted operating systems, and are on track to start production next year. Additionally, Intel 18A has brought together two critical innovations to enable customers to make leaps…
— Pat Gelsinger (@PGelsinger) August 6, 2024
Two key technologies come with its 18A process node, RibbonFET & PowerVia Backside.
RibbonFET allows for tighter control over electrical current in the transistor channels, allowing for miniaturization of the chip components while reducing power leakage while PowerVia backside power delivery will offer optimized signal routing by separating power delivery from the front-side of the wafer to the back, offering reduced resistance and improved power efficiency. With these, Intel is aiming to achieve a leadership position on both client and server segments by 2025 so with that being a year away, we will see how well Intel's progress goes.
