The 3 μm process (3 micrometer process) is the level of MOSFET semiconductor process technology that was reached around 1977, 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. . Hitachi's 4 kbit HM6147 SRAM memory chip, launched in 1978, introduced the twin-well CMOS process, at 3 μm. Motorola 68000 (MC68000) CPU, launched in 1979, was originally fabricated using an HMOS process with a 3.5 μm feature size. The ARM1 was launched in 1985 and manufactured on a 3 μm process.
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