For serial production of chips using Intel 14A technology, the company of the same name will need several ASML lithographic scanners with a high numerical aperture value (High-NA EUV), and the second of the systems it received in this class was recently successfully assembled and installed in Oregon, as it became known the other day.
Image Source: ASML
In fact, the start of installation of the second ASML lithographic scanner of this class became known in early August, but the process was completed only recently. According to TrendForce, Intel’s director of lithography equipment, Mark Phillips, even stated that the first test results of this equipment exceed the company’s expectations. The processor manufacturer assembled and installed the second High-NA EUV class system faster than the first.
According to Philips, almost all the infrastructure necessary to begin producing chips using this equipment is ready, and the company has now begun inspecting photomasks that will be used in conjunction with this equipment. Intel will be able to start producing chips with minimal effort. It is clear that in the coming months this will be a pilot production, which will be scaled up to serial production no earlier than 2026.
As an Intel representative added, to master the mass production of chips using 14A technology, the company may need new types of photoresist compounds, but by 2026–2027 they will appear in sufficient quantities.
The Taiwanese company TSMC, which has so far publicly demonstrated its lack of desire to master High-NA class lithography in a short time, received its first lithography scanner of this type last month. Although South Korean Samsung Electronics is interested in purchasing such equipment from ASML, after recent personnel changes it is preparing to reduce the volume of purchases compared to original plans. Apparently, the role of such equipment in Samsung’s technological development has been revised downwards.