ASML is a Dutch company specializing in production equipment for the semiconductor industry. To put it simply, TSMC, the largest foundry, uses their machines. Today’s news focuses on the company’s desire to increase yields and thus reduce production costs. How? By increasing the EUV power of its machines by 2030!
ASML wants to increase the EUV power on its machines to 1000W!
To put it simply, these machines etch wafers (silicon discs) using ultraviolet light. To produce this light, the machines inject micro-droplets of molten tin, which are then struck by lasers, creating tin plasma that generates ultraviolet light. This light then passes through a system combining several mirrors and is reflected by a reticle (which contains the pattern of the circuit to be etched onto the wafer), exposing a photosensitive resin before chemical etching.
ASML’s goal is to increase the tin flow rate to 100,000 droplets per second in order to increase the machine’s power. Increasing the power from 600W (current) to 1000W will reduce the time needed to etch a wafer. Less time needed for etching means higher output volume. Mechanically, production costs are reduced and the machines pay for themselves more quickly. Currently, the hourly throughput is around 220 wafers , but with increased EUV power, this would rise to 330, an increase of 50%.
However, this increase will not happen overnight, as the goal is to achieve this increase by 2030. Based on this principle, the brand indicates that EUV power could be increased from 1500W to 2000W. But these are just assumptions, and we will have to be patient before we see such power levels become a reality.
