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ASML is the world's most valuable semiconductor equipment company, and has become a leader in the chip manufacturing industry by shipping lithography equipment alone. Even the world's first and second largest chip manufacturers need to purchase lithography machine equipment from ASML to achieve chip manufacturing and production.
AsML is still progressing, in the new generation of EUV lithography machine, ASML has a clear attitude and plans to plan early mass production. ASML can't wait? What prompted ASML to mass-produce a new generation of EUV lithography machines ahead of schedule?
Regarding the new generation of EUV lithography machines, ASML has a clear attitude
EUV lithography machine is known as "the jewel in the industrial crown", this sentence is actually not exaggerated at all, can create EUV lithography machine, is definitely one of the greatest achievements in the history of human industry.
It is capable of nanoscale exposure of wafers with a wavelength of 13.4 nm of extreme ultraviolet light, lithographing hundreds of transistor lines onto a chip the size of a fingernail. It's like carving a big city on a coin, and every detail has to be perfectly reproduced.
This is by no means something that ordinary machines can do, this is the ultimate chip manufacturing performance brought by the EUV lithography machine, which is only in the hands of ASML alone.
But ASML is also pursuing a higher, more advanced new generation of NA EUV lithography machines. ASML is already working on the next generation of EUV lithography machines, which, if mass-produced and delivered, will bring a greater breakthrough in chip manufacturing technology to chipmakers.
It can even help TSMC, Samsung and other giants to achieve the manufacture of 3nm chips, so this is also an important device to impact the more high-end technology of chips.
According to the plan, the new generation of EUV lithography opportunities will be mass production delivery in 2024, but regarding the disclosure of the new generation of EUV, ASML's attitude is very clear, that is, to produce the machine as soon as possible. As a result, ASML plans to advance mass production, and it is expected to enter the mass production stage from 2023.
Since it is a new generation of EUV lithography machine, it is naturally impossible to change it at all. First of all, in terms of price, the COST of NA EUV lithography machine is as high as 300 million US dollars, and the current EUV lithography machine costs 120 million US dollars, and the price difference is about 3 times. Secondly, in terms of aperture lens, it has changed from the original 0.33 to 0.55 aperture, bringing more delicate resolution performance. There is also a great increase in accuracy, transistor density and so on.
These process upgrades will promote another leap forward in human chip technology, and I am afraid that the current flagship-level 5nm chips will be everywhere in four or five years.
Not only smart phones, computers to achieve 5nm chip process applications, including a series of industrial Internet of Things, smart cars and artificial intelligence and other industries, will use 5nm process technology.
After four or five years, most of the consumer electronic products such as smartphones have been upgraded to the process of 3nm and below. To achieve such a great industrial progress, it is inseparable from ASML's research and development of a new generation of NA EUV lithography machines.
Why can't ASML wait?
As far as the current EUV lithography machine is concerned, several generations of high-end chip process chips have been realized, helping TSMC and Samsung to complete the OEM of high-end chips for customers.
But it is not enough, TSMC, Samsung have plans to produce 3nm chips, Samsung even completed the 3nm tape-out, one step closer to mass production.
As the world's largest chip manufacturer, TSMC will certainly not miss the 3nm chip era. At that time, the universal version of the EUV lithography machine may not be suitable, which requires ASML to create more advanced equipment.
ASML is also essentially a commercial company, and the ultimate goal of developing equipment is to achieve shipments to customers, which helps ASML usher in better development. Therefore, based on the needs of customers and their own development needs, ASML can not wait, plans to mass-produce a new generation of EUV lithography machine in advance.
If ASML carries out the mass production of NA EUV lithography machine in 2024, it may not be able to keep up with the development rhythm of TSMC and Samsung.
They need to get the equipment to land in advance, install it, commission it, and train them as engineers. It is impossible for new equipment to be directly started when it arrives, and it will inevitably take time to adapt. Then the use of new equipment to trial production of chips, improve yield rate, and finally enter the commercial stage.
This period of time is a lot of time, if ASML's new generation of EUV lithography machines are delayed, then all the planned dates will have to be postponed. This is also the reason why ASML has advanced mass production of a new generation of EUV lithography machines.
Due to the cost problem, the average enterprise simply does not have the ability to afford the equipment procurement cost. Originally, it would be expensive to build a high-end chip production line, and if it costs more in purchasing equipment, the price of the chips created will also rise.
However, this is not a problem for ASML to consider, as long as the device can be built, there is no customer. Intel has confirmed the first NA EUV lithography machine enterprises, for this debut, the need to pay the representative is certainly not small.
This also proves that more than one manufacturer is interested in ASML's new generation of EUV lithography machines, depending on who can use this device to create more advanced chips.
summary
ASML can't wait, and the attitude of mass production of NA EUV lithography machines in advance is clear. Because the customer's process is constantly improving, if it has been stuck in the ordinary version of the EUV lithography machine technology, it may lead to the saturation of the EUV lithography machine, and the customers who can purchase equipment have purchased. For the future, ASML must be accelerated.
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