A 0.25 /spl mu/m 600 MHz 1.5 V SOI 64 b ALPHA/sup TM/ microprocessor

More and faster transistors with less power and lower voltage create many opportunities. As a microprocessor technology advances beyond sub-quarter micron, the performance benefits from scaling down tapers off. The combination of short-channel effects, difficulty in producing gate oxides thinner than 3 nm, and some fundamental problems narrow down the improvements for each new process generation. Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) transistors along with copper interconnections offer a breakthrough for the 21st century microprocessor technology for performance, power, and cost. Microprocessor technology has been waiting for more and faster transistors with less power and lower operating voltage and more and faster interconnections with less electrical and physical shortcomings. A 0.25/spl mu/m FD-SOI4-Metal CMOS 64b Alpha microprocessor is fabricated containing 9.66 million transistors and measures 14.4x14.5mm2 at 60OMHz operating frequency under typical operating conditions with 1.5V power supply along 2.0V interface.