ASML is the only commercial maker of EUV lithography machines.
Extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, lithography uses light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers to print extremely small patterns on semiconductor wafers. These patterns form the intricate structures of advanced computer chips.
ASML, headquartered in Veldhoven, Netherlands, developed its EUV systems through decades of research with suppliers, research institutions, and chip manufacturers. The machines are extraordinarily complex, using a tin-plasma light source, precision optics, and a vacuum environment because EUV light is absorbed by air and ordinary lenses.
EUV equipment is different from the photolithography machines used for many older chipmaking processes. ASML does not manufacture most of the chips made with its systems; instead, it supplies the equipment to semiconductor manufacturers such as TSMC, Samsung, and Intel. This specialized position explains ASML’s importance in the global semiconductor industry.