ASML Ships 2nd High NA EUV, Prints 10 nm Lines

ASML, a prominent provider of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, has successfully delivered its latest High NA (High Numerical Aperture) EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography system to a second customer. Although the company has not revealed the identity of the second client, it is speculated that the potential customers could include leading chip manufacturers such as TSMC or Samsung, who produce chips for Nvidia and Apple.

Between December and January, ASML supplied a High NA system to Intel, which plans to begin utilizing the equipment in the early production of its Intel 14A series chips between 2026 and 2027. These advanced High NA systems, estimated at around €350 million (approximately $370 million) each, are set to facilitate the creation of smaller, faster next-generation chips.

Both TSMC and Samsung have expressed their intentions to adopt this state-of-the-art system, which is anticipated to substantially increase the density of transistors on a single chip.

The initial High NA system was assembled at ASML's headquarters in Veldhoven, Netherlands, allowing companies employing EUV technology to conduct testing with this equipment. ASML has already secured orders for 10 to 20 High NA systems.

Lithography systems use light beams to construct chip circuits. ASML's first-generation EUV systems are currently instrumental in producing the majority of chips found in smartphones and AI devices. These systems employ "extreme ultraviolet" light to print line widths as narrow as 13 nm. Recent updates and images released by ASML confirm that the High NA system has successfully printed line widths as thin as 10 nm. According to ASML's website, the equipment's theoretical resolution limit stands at 8 nm.