Glossary comparison
Micron vs Nanometre: what is the difference?
The difference
A nanometre is a thousand times smaller than a micron. Process names moved from microns to nanometres, so 0.18 micron and 180 nm describe the same size.
A micron, or micrometre, is a thousand nanometres. Older processes were named in microns, such as 0.35 micron, before the industry moved to nanometre names.
The two terms
Micron
One millionth of a metre, the unit behind pre-2000 node names such as 0.35 micron, and still the working unit for package features, bump pitch, wafer thickness and defect sizes.
Nanometre
One billionth of a metre, the length scale of modern transistor features. As a process node label it has become a marketing generation name rather than a measured dimension, so a 3 nm process contains no feature that is actually 3 nm.
Side by side
| Field | Micron | Nanometre |
|---|---|---|
| Stands for | Not an abbreviation | Not an abbreviation |
| Type | Unit | Unit |
| Domain | General Industry | General Industry |
| Group | Units and scale | Units and scale |