180 nanometer

The 180 nanometer (180 nm or 0.18 µm) process refers to the level of semiconductor process technology that was reached in the 1999-2000 timeframe, by most leading semiconductor companies, like Intel, Texas Instruments, IBM, and TSMC.

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The origin of the 180 nm value is historical, as it reflects a trend of 70% scaling every 2-3 years. The naming is formally determined by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) hosted by Sematech.

Some of the first CPUs manufactured with this process include Intel Coppermine family of Pentium III processors. This was the first technology using a wavelength shorter than the one of light (which is 193 nm).