ELi5: Central processing unit

Question

Every year we see chips with transistors closer to each other than previous versions. We already know the physics then why are companies doing 1nm closer each year from 14 to 4nm and not directly say, a 14nm to 3nm?

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Answer 1

>Every year we see chips with transistors closer to each other than previous versions. We already know the physics then why are companies doing 1nm closer each year from 14 to 4nm and not directly say, a 14nm to 3nm?

Building chips on a smaller scale is not done by mere *decision*, it’s only made possible by continuous technological breakthroughs in manufacturing technology.
Chips 15 years were not produced with a 14nm process – not because manufactures **wanted** to produce more inefficient technology, but because the manufacturing capabilities to do better hadn’t been invented yet.