20 µm process
Early CMOS process for RCA's CD4000 ICs.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
The 20 µm manufacturing process was an early semiconductor fabrication technology used for metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) integrated circuits. It is historically significant as the process node for RCA's CD4000 series of integrated circuits, which began production in 1968, marking one of the first commercial applications of CMOS technology.
- process_node
- 20 µm
- first_commercial_product
- RCA CD4000 series ICs
- year_introduced
- 1968
- technology_type
- CMOS
- significance
- Early commercial CMOS integrated circuits
Lore & Background
The 20 µm manufacturing process was employed by RCA for its CD4000 series of integrated circuits, which began in 1968. This series was among the first commercial CMOS logic families, offering low power consumption compared to earlier bipolar logic families. The process node represents a relatively large feature size by modern standards, typical of early MOSFET fabrication.
Reader's Guide
The 20 µm process node is a foundational milestone in the history of semiconductor manufacturing. It enabled the production of the RCA CD4000 series, which introduced CMOS technology to a wide range of commercial applications. CMOS (complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) logic became dominant due to its low static power dissipation, and the CD4000 series helped establish this advantage. Although the 20 µm node is now obsolete, it represents the starting point for the miniaturization trend that has driven the semiconductor industry for decades. The CD4000 series remained in production for many years, influencing later CMOS logic families.
Did You Know?
- RCA's CD4000 series of integrated circuits began in 1968 using the 20 µm process.
- The 20 µm process was used for CMOS (single-gate) MOSFETs.
- This process node is listed among commercial products featuring micro-scale MOSFETs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is the 20 µm process?
It is an early semiconductor fabrication node that defined the minimum feature size for MOSFET-based integrated circuits. In practice, it refers to the 20-micrometer rule used to etch and pattern transistor gates on silicon wafers during the late 1960s.
What was the first commercial chip built on the 20 µm process?
RCA's CD4000 family of logic ICs, which entered production in 1968, is widely credited as the inaugural commercial product fabricated at this node. Those chips brought CMOS logic to the consumer market for the first time.
Why do enthusiasts consider the 20 µm node a milestone?
It marked the moment CMOS technology moved from a lab curiosity to a mass-produced, commercially available integrated circuit. Before RCA's 1968 CD4000 series, there was no widely sold CMOS IC, so this node effectively launched an entire design philosophy still in use today.
What technology type does the 20 µm process implement?
It is a CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) fabrication process, pairing n-type and p-type MOSFETs on the same die. That complementary arrangement is what gave the CD4000 parts their famously low static power draw compared to contemporaneous TTL logic.
How does the 20 µm process fit into the broader history of semiconductor scaling?
It sits at the very beginning of the miniaturization curve that would later shrink to nanometer-scale nodes. As a 1968 baseline, it provides the reference point from which every subsequent process generation—shrinking gate lengths by orders of magnitude—was measured.
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