ASML is already working on a successor to the high-NA EUV machines it has on the market today. These are intended to further increase the density and yield of chip production lines.

Dutch company ASML is already looking to follow up its high-NA EUV machines with a hyper-NA EUV device, although the previous generation was only bought by Intel. The high-NA EUV devices follow the manufacturer’s first low-NA EUV devices, which drive most EUV production lines today.

ASML is working on new generations of EUV (extreme ultraviolet) machines so that chipmakers can use the devices in increasingly advanced production lines, which in turn can produce modern chips more efficiently. The manufacturer’s devices are directly responsible for nanometer innovations in processors.

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ASLM is innovating in the machines, particularly in the area of ​​the lens aperture. The increase in size allows the machines to project components of a chip with higher density. However, a larger aperture brings challenges, such as reduced contrast, for which ASLM must look for other solutions.

This sounds simple in principle, but the wavelength of (invisible) light used in EUV machines is so small that the radiation is absorbed by almost everything, including the mirrors in the machines themselves. ASML has to grapple with the laws of physics with each new generation of its lithography machines in order to get more performance out of the machines.

The Hyper-NA EUV machines are another leap forward and will be available in principle from 2030. In the meantime, the adoption of the High-NA EUV machines is still limited and Intel has purchased the majority of the future inventory.