Belgium’s imec and ASML Achieve Chipmaking Breakthroughs

Belgium’s imec, a leading semiconductor R&D firm, has reported significant breakthroughs in computer chip-making at a joint laboratory it operates with ASML, using the Dutch company’s newest 350 million euro ($382 million) chip printing machine.

Imec successfully printed circuitry as small or smaller than the best currently in commercial production, for both logic and memory chips, in a single pass using ASML’s new “High NA” tool. This development suggests that leading chipmakers will be able to use the tool in the coming years to produce smaller, faster chips.

Impact of High NA Tool:

High NA will be “highly instrumental to continue the dimensional scaling of logic and memory technologies,” stated imec CEO Luc Van den Hove. The tool’s ability to print smaller features in fewer steps is expected to save chipmakers money and justify its high price tag.

imec noted that many other chemicals and tools necessary for the chipmaking process were used in the tests and are aligning for commercial manufacturing.

ASML Dominance:

ASML is the largest supplier of equipment to computer chip makers, dominating the market in lithography systems that use beams of light to create circuitry. The High NA tool represents a significant advancement in their technology portfolio.

Intel is purchasing the first two High NA tools, with a third expected to go to TSMC later this year. Intel director of lithography Mark Philips highlighted the necessity of a second tool for the volume of wafers and experiments needed to support a development line. Other chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron, have also ordered the High NA tool.