Intel reports this week that ASML’s first two High NA EUV lithography machines are in production at its plants. The initial experiences show that the machines are more reliable than previous models.
At a conference in San Jose, California, Steve Carson, senior principal engineer at Intel, stated that the company produced 30,000 wafers in one quarter with ASML’s high numerical aperture (NA) EUV lithography machines.
Intel last year became the first chip maker in the world to start using these machines. They can produce smaller and faster computer chips than previous ASML machines. This enabled a change in strategy at Intel. That manufacturer was lagging behind competitors in adopting the previous generation of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines. Now it received the equipment even earlier than major competitor TSMC for testing purposes.
Intel lost leadership position
It took Intel seven years to have those earlier machines fully in production, which contributed to it losing its leadership position to TSMC. Intel also struggled with revenues from the EUV machines in the early stages.
However, Carson stated that ASML’s new High NA machines are about twice as reliable as the previous generation in initial testing. He indicated that Intel is now producing wafers at a constant speed, which is a huge win.
Saving on production time and costs
The new ASML machines, which print chip structures with beams of light, can also do the same work as previous machines with fewer exposures, saving time and costs.
According to Carson, initial results at Intel show that the High NA machines now perform tasks, for which previous machines required three exposures and about 40 processing steps, with only one exposure and a single-digit number of processing steps.
Intel has said it will use the High NA machines to develop its 18A manufacturing technology, which should go into mass production later this year with a new generation of PC chips. However, it is the regular EUV devices that will handle mass production.
The company plans to fully deploy the High NA machines for its next-generation manufacturing technology, called 14A, but has not yet given a date for mass production of that technology.