TSMC will receive first high-NA EUV lithography system by the end of this year

Repeated statements by TSMC representatives about the absence of the need to switch to more expensive High-NA EUV equipment when producing chips using A16 technology do not mean that the company is not interested in it in principle. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, the first such ASML system will appear in the TSMC laboratory before the end of this year.

Image Source: ASML

Let us recall that the layer-by-layer implementation of EUV lithography with a high numerical aperture (High-NA) by most leading chip manufacturers is planned at the threshold of lithographic standards below 2 nm, and for now Intel claims to be the main recipient of the first samples of such equipment from ASML. Meanwhile, Japanese sources report that by the end of this year, the corresponding lithographic scanner of this brand will be delivered to Taiwan and installed at the TSMC research center in Hsinchu. At least, we can talk about the first sample of equipment, since even Intel has been receiving both of its scanners of this type since the end of last year in stages. How many High-NA EUV scanners TSMC will need for experiments in its laboratory is not specified.

ASML is currently capable of producing five to six of these lithography systems annually, and it was initially believed that Intel had already booked the entire run for next year. Along the way, Nikkei was able to obtain information about ASML’s preparation for shipping the third lithographic scanner of this class for the needs of Intel. It is generally accepted that the latest generation lithography scanners supplied to Taiwan by ASML are equipped with a remote control mechanism that allows the machine to be permanently disabled in the event of a danger of the island being captured by Chinese troops.