Intel has announced that its lead products based on the Intel 18A process technology — Panther Lake, an AI PC client processor, and Clearwater Forest, a server processor — have powered on and booted operating systems. The production of both products will start in 2025. The company also announced that the first external customer is expected to tape out on Intel 18A in the first half of next year.

It said that Intel Foundry is the first to implement both RibbonFET gate-all-around transistors and PowerVia backside power technology for its customers. Through ecosystem electronic design automation (EDA) and IP tools and process flow, it offers RibbonFET and PowerVia to all customers through Intel 18A.

With access to the Intel 18A PDK 1.0 last month, the company’s EDA and IP partners are updating tools and design flows to enable external foundry customers to begin their Intel 18A chip designs.

Clearwater Forest, the archetype of future CPU and AI chips, will mark the industry’s first mass-produced, high-performance solution combining RibbonFET, PowerVia, and Foveros Direct 3D for higher density and power handling, Intel said.

RibbonFET and PowerVia are core Intel 18A technologies that enable greater processor scale and efficiency to drive AI computing, it said.

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RibbonFET is meant to give tight control over the electrical current in the transistor channel, enabling further miniaturisation of chip components while reducing power leakage — a critical factor as chips become increasingly dense.

PowerVia optimises signal routing by separating power delivery from the front of the wafer, reducing resistance and improving power efficiency. Together, these technologies could lead to substantial gains in computing performance and battery life in future electronic devices.

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