Intel Foundry’s Latest Milestone Is The World’s Thinnest GaN Chiplet, Measuring Just 19μm

Intel Foundry has just achieved a new milestone with the creation of the world's first and thinnest GaN chiplet, measuring just 19μm.

Intel Foundry Powers Next-Gen Data Centers & Networking With World's Thinnest GaN Chiplet

Intel has brought increased power, speed, and efficiency in a compact space with its latest achievement, the world's thinnest GaN chiplet. Demoed by Intel Foundry, the research team has showcased the first-of-its-kind GaN chiplet made using 300mm GaN-on-silicon wafers, measuring just 19μm thick, and powering the next phase of semiconductors. The following are the main highlights of this achievement:

• Intel Foundry has created the world's thinnest gallium nitride (GaN) chiplet — its base silicon measuring just 19 micrometers (μm) thick — harvested from a 300 millimeter (mm) GaN-on-silicon wafer.¹
• Researchers have successfully combined GaN transistors with traditional silicon-based digital circuits on a single chip, allowing complex computing functions to be built directly into power chiplets without needing separate companion chiplets.
• Rigorous testing confirms that this new GaN chiplet technology is a promising candidate that can meet the reliability standards required for real-world deployment — enabling smaller, more efficient electronics for applications ranging from data centers to next-generation 5G and 6G communications.

Press Release: Researchers at Intel Foundry have demonstrated a first-of-its-kind GaN chiplet technology built on 300 mm GaN-on-silicon wafers, marking a significant leap forward in semiconductor design. Presented at the 2025 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), this work tackles one of the most pressing challenges in modern computing: how to deliver more power, speed, and efficiency in an increasingly compact space. To meet the demand of graphics processors, servers, and wireless networks for ever-greater performance, the Intel Foundry team developed an ultra-thin GaN chiplet — its base silicon measuring just 19 μm thick, roughly one-fifth the width of a human hair — along with the industry's first fully monolithic on-die digital control circuits, all built using a single integrated manufacturing process.

The demand for this innovation stems from a fundamental tension in modern electronics: the need to pack more capability into tighter spaces while simultaneously handling higher power loads and faster data speeds. Traditional silicon-based technologies are approaching their physical limits, and the industry has been looking to alternative materials like GaN to bridge the gap. Intel Foundry combines the ultra-thin GaN chiplet with on-die digital control circuits — eliminating the need for a separate companion chiplet and reducing the energy lost routing signals between components. Comprehensive reliability testing further demonstrates that this platform is a promising candidate for a real-world product.

This technology opens the door to concrete improvements across several industries. In data centers, GaN chiplets could switch faster, losing less energy than silicon alternatives. This would enable voltage regulators that are smaller, more efficient, and positioned closer to the processor, reducing the resistive energy losses that occur over long power routing paths. In wireless infrastructure, the high-frequency performance of GaN transistors makes it a natural candidate for radio frequency (RF) frontend technology, such as base stations used in 5G and 6G systems being developed for the next decade. GaN's ability to operate efficiently at frequencies exceeding 200 GHz positions it well for the centimeter- and millimeter-wave bands on which next-generation networks will rely.¹ Beyond networks, the same capabilities are relevant to radar systems, satellite communications, and photonic applications where fast electrical switching is needed to modulate light signals.

Compared to traditional CMOS-based silicon chips, GaN chiplets offer a compelling combination of advantages that silicon simply cannot match at its physical limits. GaN delivers higher power density, enabling more capable systems in smaller footprints — a critical advantage in space-constrained applications such as point-of-load power delivery for data centers, electric vehicles (essentially a data center on wheels), and wireless base stations. Silicon becomes unreliable at junction temperatures above approximately 150°C, which limits its use in high-heat environments.

GaN's wider bandgap potentially allows it to operate at higher temperatures with greater stability, reducing power losses during switching, and enabling more efficient thermal management, which in turn reduces the size and cost of cooling systems. In addition, Intel Foundry's use of standard 300 mm silicon wafers for GaN production is compatible with current silicon-based manufacturing infrastructure, promising to reduce the requirement for major new investments.

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