A natively flexible 32-bit Arm microprocessor

John Biggs, James Myers, Jedrzej Kufel, Emre Ozer (), Simon Craske, Antony Sou, Catherine Ramsdale, Ken Williamson, Richard Price and Scott White
Additional contact information
John Biggs: Arm Ltd
James Myers: Arm Ltd
Jedrzej Kufel: Arm Ltd
Emre Ozer: Arm Ltd
Simon Craske: Arm Ltd
Antony Sou: PragmatIC Semiconductor Ltd
Catherine Ramsdale: PragmatIC Semiconductor Ltd
Ken Williamson: PragmatIC Semiconductor Ltd
Richard Price: PragmatIC Semiconductor Ltd
Scott White: PragmatIC Semiconductor Ltd

Nature, 2021, vol. 595, issue 7868, 532-536

Abstract: Abstract Nearly 50 years ago, Intel created the world’s first commercially produced microprocessor—the 4004 (ref. 1), a modest 4-bit CPU (central processing unit) with 2,300 transistors fabricated using 10 μm process technology in silicon and capable only of simple arithmetic calculations. Since this ground-breaking achievement, there has been continuous technological development with increasing sophistication to the stage where state-of-the-art silicon 64-bit microprocessors now have 30 billion transistors (for example, the AWS Graviton2 (ref. 2) microprocessor, fabricated using 7 nm process technology). The microprocessor is now so embedded within our culture that it has become a meta-invention—that is, it is a tool that allows other inventions to be realized, most recently enabling the big data analysis needed for a COVID-19 vaccine to be developed in record time. Here we report a 32-bit Arm (a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) architecture) microprocessor developed with metal-oxide thin-film transistor technology on a flexible substrate (which we call the PlasticARM). Separate from the mainstream semiconductor industry, flexible electronics operate within a domain that seamlessly integrates with everyday objects through a combination of ultrathin form factor, conformability, extreme low cost and potential for mass-scale production. PlasticARM pioneers the embedding of billions of low-cost, ultrathin microprocessors into everyday objects.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03625-w

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