Subj : Here's what the machine that will build your next laptop CPU look
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Wed Feb 21 2024 06:00:07

Here's what the machine that will build your next laptop CPU looks like  
customers including Intel paid $350 million and waited up to six years to get 
their hands on it

Date:
Wed, 21 Feb 2024 05:55:33 +0000

Description:
ASML's High-NA EUV machine costs $350 million, and Intel is the first to get 
one.

FULL STORY
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Dutch lithography machine manufacturer ASML recently dethroned Applied 
Materials to become the world's largest fab tool maker, and its future looks 
even brighter following the news that it is gearing up production of its new 
High-NA (numerical aperture) EUV (extreme ultraviolet) machine. 

This system, which is around the size of a double decker bus and weighs 
150,000 kilograms,is capable of etching lines just 8nm wide on 
semiconductors. This is a significant reduction from the previous generation, 
allowing for more transistors to be packed onto a chip, leading to faster 
processing and higher storage capacity, critical for AI applications. 

Intel, a major customer, has already received its first machine at its D1X 
factory in Oregon and plans to commence production using the system by the 
end of 2025. Not for China 

Intels focus is to stay at the forefront of semiconductor lithography 
technologyand weve been building our EUV expertise and capacity over the last 
year.Working closely with ASML, we will harness High-NA EUVs high-resolution 
patterning as one of the ways we continue Moores Law and maintain our strong 
history of progression down to the smallest of geometries, said Dr. Ann 
Kelleher, executive vice president and general manager of Technology 
Development at Intel. 

ASML says it taken between 10 and 20 orders to date of its machine, which is 
priced at a whopping $350 million, indicating optimistic expectations for the 
technology. This comes despite accusations concerning the cost-effectiveness 
of the next-generation lithography tool for upcoming nodes. 

Although China was ASML's second-largest market last year, Reuters reports 
the new device wont be sold to manufacturers there, following the United 
States governments crack down on the export of cutting edge technology to the 
People's Republic. 

EUV lithography, unique to ASML, prints microchips using light with a 
wavelength of just 13.5 nm  almost x-ray range. ASML (and Intel) say 
technology is driving Moore's Law forward and supporting novel transistor 
designs and chip architectures. 

The new platform is expected to support high-volume chip manufacturing in 
20252026, enabling geometric chip scaling into the next decade. By reducing 
the number of process steps in high-volume manufacturing, chipmakers could 
benefit from significant reductions in defects, cost, and cycle time. More 
from TechRadar Pro Intel reveals new generative AI spin-off company 
Customized chips will be in vogue beyond 2025 Nvidia plans to compete in $30 
billion custom chip market



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/heres-what-the-machine-that-will-build-your-next
-laptop-cpu-look-like-customers-like-intel-paid-dollar350-million-and-waited-u
p-to-six-years-to-get-their-hands-on-it


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