Departing CEO of ASML Peter Wennink promised that his company would deliver the first of its state-of-the-art EUV scanners before the end of 2023. With days to spare, Intel has become the first customer to receive one. As a result, the American chipmaker can finally dream of outcompeting its rivals once more.
The Twinscan EXE:5000 is the first-ever High-NA EUV scanner from ASML. The device’s significantly higher accuracy allows it to continue Moore’s Law, the company says. ASML’s scanners are the only option for the most advanced chip production. The company’s innovations therefore have a huge impact on advancing computer hardware.
As it previously promised, the Dutch company has produced and is delivering its first scanner before the end of this year. For ASML, it’s an important milestone, as this “pilot” scanner allows chip manufacturers to finally experiment with the novel technology. It will be followed later by the Twinscan EXE:5200, which should enable mass production by 2025. Those machines will be deployed for process nodes smaller than 1.8 nanometers (18 Ångström). For some context: chips based on 3 nanometers have only appeared this year after years of R&D. Apple was allowed to lead the way in this regard with the iPhone 15 series.
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Intel almost caught up
Intel placed the order with ASML in 2018. It showed a great deal of insightful thinking from the American chipmaker. Not long ago, Intel had been stuck for years on outdated processes compared to its competitors.
In 2020, the contrast with the chips from primary rival AMD was starkest. While the 10th generation Intel Core processors were still built on the then six-year-old 14nm node, AMD unleashed CPUs at 7 nanometers. The end result was that AMD benefited from developments at ASML: after all, Intel produces its own chips largely in-house, while AMD outsources that to ASML’s customer TSMC. The Taiwanese company had procured new EUV scanners and tested them extensively years earlier. The result was a startling efficiency difference between Intel and AMD. While Intel chips consumed power and hit temperature limits at a alarming pace to perform, AMD chips on EUV technology proved both efficient and remained relatively easy to cool.
It was clear: Intel’s strategy had failed. Its roadmaps were only worth the paper they’d been printed on as delay after delay hit. Things are different now.
With the arrival of Pat Gelsinger as CEO in early 2021, a promise quickly emerged: Intel would deliver “5 nodes in 4 years” under his leadership. By adopting new nodes at a rapid pace, Intel wanted to finally become competitive again. When we spoke to the company recently, its representatives emphasized that the roadmaps are being hit continuously. Currently, that has resulted in 5th generation Xeon chips on the Intel 7 process and Meteor Lake laptops with (partially) Intel 4 technology in them.
ASML leading the way for Intel’s opportunities
ASML equipment won’t be needed to make any of the “5 nodes in 4 years” possible. Intel only wants to test 18A chips with the latest machines, the last of the five chip processes Gelsinger had promised to delived back in 2021. This will be followed by as-yet-unknown new nodes, with High-NA EUV turning them into reality.
Intel stands to benefit a great deal. Indeed, it even has an extra revenue stream to draw from with its boosted competitiveness as a chipmaker. With Intel Foundry Services, the American company wants to take the fight to prominent competitors such as TSMC and Samsung. Nvidia is even open to a partnership with Intel. That would create a highly desirable situation for the company. After all, it may eventually benefit from the AI revolution on two fronts. Its own hardware may continue to be an attractively efficient AI offering, while lucrative contracts with parties like Nvidia give it room to breathe on the other.
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