Tela Innovations funded for 45 nanometer chipmaking

Tela Innovations is a Campbell, Calif. company with a technology for manufacturing 45 nanometer chips, which have just coming to the consumer market starting with Intel’s Penryn processor.

The company uses computational lithography techniques to address a special problem encountered in the manufacture of extremely advanced chips, when the wavelength of light used in manufacturing begins to become larger than the chips themselves.

Intel Capital and AsiaTech Management became new investors for an undisclosed round in the company, its second. Previous investors include Sand Hill Finance Company, Teton Capital and Western Technology Investment.

As the circuits on chips move to smaller dimensions, with the width on transistor gates shrinking to only 45 nm, chip makers have to figure out how to use lithography equipment to trick the light so that it can be sharply focused and create the tiny patterns needed.