In a strategic move to consolidate its absolute dominance in the semiconductor market, the ASML Holding (the most valuable company in Europe, worth around 530 billion euros) announced that it has developed a way to drastically enhance the light source of its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines. The advance promises to increase chip production capacity by around 50% by the end of this decade.
The discovery, revealed this Monday (February 23) exclusively to Reuters at the company’s facilities in San Diego, USA, focuses on increasing the power of the light source from the current 600 watts to 1000 watts. According to ASML researchers, this increment is not just a laboratory test, but a system capable of operating under the demanding conditions required by its customers, such as TSMC and Intel.
The secret is in the tin and the laser
EUV lithography is one of the most complex processes ever created by humans. To generate light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers, the machine shoots droplets of molten tin that are hit by a CO laser.2transforming them into plasma hotter than the Sun.
The innovation now presented is based on two pillars: the doubling of the frequency obtained until now, with the system start firing around 100,000 tin drops per second; and plasma refining — Instead of using a single laser shot to shape the plasma, the new technology uses two smaller, more precise pulses.
Teun van Gogh, executive vice president of ASML’s NXE line, explained that this greater power allows the exposure time of the silicon wafers to be reduced. As a result, the forecast is that the machines will process 330 “wafers” per hour by 2030, compared to 220 today.
The race for industrial leadership is also a case of geopolitics
This announcement comes at a time of high competitive tension. ASML is currently the only company in the world to sell EUV machines, an essential tool for producing the most advanced chips on the planet. However, the pressure increases: the China has launched a national effort to develop its own technology following export restrictions imposed by the USA and the Netherlands. AND startups such as Substrate and xLight emerged in the United States (the latter with government support) trying to break the current Dutch monopoly.
With this show of technical strength, ASML sends a clear signal to the market and rivals: “We see a reasonably clear path to 1500 watts, and there is no fundamental reason why we can’t get to 2000 watts,” said Michael Purvis, the company’s lead EUV light source technologist.
For electronic device manufacturers, this advancement translates into a potential cost reduction per chip, allowing cutting-edge technology to continue to evolve in an economically viable way in the coming years.
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