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ASML, a leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer, announced on June 3rd, in collaboration with Imec, a Belgian chip research firm, the opening of a test lab for its High NA EUV lithography equipment, with the expectation that customers will begin commercial manufacturing with the tool in 2025-2026.

The laboratory in Veldhoven, Netherlands, years in the making, will give leading chipmakers and other equipment and materials supply companies an early chance to work with the 350 million euro ($380 million) tool, the first of its kind.

ASML is the frontrunner in the lithography equipment market, a key phase in chip making where beams of light are used to construct chip circuits. Among chip manufacturers, it is only TSMC, Samsung, Intel, memory experts SK Hynix and Samsung that are capable of manufacturing with ASML's current generation of Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) machines.

The new High NA tool allows for up to 60% better resolution, and is expected to lead to new generations of smaller, faster chips.

To date ASML has only shipped one other test machine, to Intel in the United States, which plans to use the tool in its 14A process in 2025.

ASML has orders for more than a dozen, though TSMC, its biggest customer for EUV equipment, has said it does not need to use High NA tools for its A16 chips, expected to enter production in 2025.

Editor：Lulu

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