ASML is the only commercial supplier of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, a key reason it ranks among the world's most valuable technology companies by market capitalization.
EUV lithography uses 13.5-nanometer light to print extremely small patterns on advanced computer chips. Semiconductor manufacturers use these patterns to build the dense transistor structures needed for leading-edge processors and memory.
ASML is headquartered in Veldhoven, Netherlands, and developed its EUV systems through decades of research with partners and suppliers. The machines are extraordinarily complex, containing precision optics, vacuum systems, and light sources designed to operate at industrial scale.
A common mix-up is to describe ASML as a chip manufacturer. It does not normally make the processors itself; instead, it supplies lithography equipment to chipmakers such as TSMC, Samsung, and Intel. Its near-monopoly in EUV equipment helps explain its unusual strategic importance.