Just weeks after shipping its first PC processors made with 65-nanometer process technology, Intel Corp. has produced what it believes are the first fully functional SRAM chips using 45-nanometer manufacturing. Each chip contains more than 1 billion transistors. While Intel has no plans to get into the static RAM business, the company says the new silicon demonstrates process yield and chip reliability for its move toward high-volume 45nm manufacturing -- with CPU production on 300mm wafers scheduled for 2007.

According to Intel, 45nm process technology will enable chips with less than one-fifth of the power leakage seen in today's processors, stretching battery life for mobile devices and encouraging smaller, cooler, and quieter yet more powerful PCs and multimedia devices. The SRAM chips hail from Intel's D1D facility in Oregon, but two high-volume fabs for 45nm production are under construction in Arizona and Israel.