ASML was founded in 1984 as a joint venture between ASM International and Philips.
The company began in the Netherlands as ASM Lithography, focusing on equipment used to manufacture integrated circuits. Semiconductor fabrication requires extremely precise lithography systems to transfer tiny patterns onto silicon wafers, and ASML eventually became the leading supplier of advanced lithography technology.
ASML’s product history includes deep-ultraviolet systems and extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, lithography. EUV machines use light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers and are used to produce some of the most advanced chips. The company’s position is distinctive because its most advanced systems depend on a global network of specialized suppliers.
ASML is often confused with chip designers or chip manufacturers. It does not primarily design consumer processors or fabricate chips; it makes the highly specialized machines that chip manufacturers use. Its Dutch origins and 1984 joint-venture structure are central facts in its corporate history.