ASML Achieves EUV Light Source Innovation to Increase Chip Production by 50% by 2030
Researchers at Dutch semiconductor company ASML have discovered a way to boost the power output of key semiconductor manufacturing equipment's light sources, allowing it to produce up to 50% more chips.
Exclusive: ASML unveils EUV light source advance that could yield 50% more chips by 2030 | Reuters
ASML is the only company in the world that produces extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, which is required to produce high-performance semiconductors.
According to a new Reuters report, ASML has found a way to improve the most technically challenging part of the equipment, increasing the output of the EUV light source from the current 600 watts to 1,000 watts. Using a more powerful EUV light source, the increased output will lead to more chips being produced per hour, helping to reduce the cost per chip.
Silicon wafer production capacity is expected to grow from 220 wafers per hour in 2026 to approximately 330 wafers per hour in 2030.
'This is not a gimmick, and we believe the technology we used to get to 1000 watts will enable even greater advances,' said Michael Purvis, ASML's chief engineer for EUV light sources. 'We see a pretty clear path to 1500 watts, and there's no fundamental reason why we can't get to 2000 watts.'
EUV equipment is so critical to semiconductor production that both U.S. administrations have worked with the Dutch government to prevent shipments to China, prompting China to launch a national effort to develop its own equipment.
Reports that China has succeeded in reverse engineering EUV lithography equipment in collaboration with a former ASML engineer, and that a prototype has already been completed and that domestic production of high-performance semiconductors is imminent - GIGAZINE
At least two US startups, Substrate and xLight, are raising funding to develop competing technologies to rival ASML's technology.
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