ASML is the only manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines for advanced chips.
Extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, lithography uses 13.5-nanometer light to print extremely small patterns on semiconductor wafers. ASML’s EUV systems allow chipmakers to produce many leading-edge processors with fewer patterning steps than older deep-ultraviolet techniques.
ASML is headquartered in Veldhoven, Netherlands, and grew from a joint venture formed by Philips and ASM International in 1984. Its machines are assembled from components supplied by a global network, including German optics maker Carl Zeiss. ASML itself does not manufacture finished consumer processors; its customers include major foundries and integrated device makers.
The company’s position is often described as a monopoly in EUV equipment, but it competes with other firms in older lithography categories. EUV tools are extraordinarily complex, expensive systems, making ASML a strategically important supplier to the global semiconductor industry.