3 μm process explained

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] .^[3]
• Hitachi's 4kbit 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]
• The ARM1 was launched in 1985 and manufactured on a 3μm process.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mueller . S . Microprocessors from 1971 to the Present . informIT . 2006-07-21 . 2012-05-11 .
2. Web site: Myslewski . R . Happy 40th birthday, Intel 4004! . TheRegister . 2011-11-15 .
3. Web site: History of the Intel Microprocessor - Listoid . 2014-01-05 . 2015-04-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150427124729/http://www.listoid.com/list/142 . dead .
4. Web site: 1978: Double-well fast CMOS SRAM (Hitachi) . Semiconductor History Museum of Japan . 5 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190705234921/http://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi727E.pdf . 5 July 2019 . dead .
5. [Motorola 68000]
6. Web site: ARM's Race to Embedded World Domination.