ASML makes the lithography machines essential for producing advanced computer chips.
ASML Holding is a Dutch technology company that supplies semiconductor manufacturers with lithography systems. These machines use light to project extremely small circuit patterns onto silicon wafers, a crucial step in integrated-circuit production.
ASML is especially notable for its extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, lithography systems. EUV uses light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers and enables the production of some of the most advanced chips. ASML is the only commercial supplier of EUV lithography systems, giving it an unusually important position in the semiconductor equipment industry.
ASML does not manufacture most of the processors people buy. Instead, it sells manufacturing equipment to foundries and integrated-device manufacturers, including companies such as TSMC, Intel, and Samsung. That distinction separates ASML from chip designers and chip fabricators.