Nikon aims to challenge ASML’s dominance in ArF immersion

Nikon is looking to “significantly increase” its market share in ArF immersion lithography. The Japanese firm aims to deliver a prototype to “a major semiconductor maker” by 2027, according to material published on the company’s website. The new ArFi platform is more compact, fitted with a new lens and wafer stage, and is claimed to boost productivity and reduce maintenance needs. It will be compatible with ASML’s systems.

ASML currently claims roughly 90 percent of the ArFi market. According to Nikon’s data, a little under a hundred of the world’s most advanced optical lithography tools are sold annually. Nikon sold 11 ArFi systems in its fiscal year 2024 (ending March 2024) and none in the first three quarters of its fiscal year 2025.

Driven by the adoption of 3D integration techniques in logic and memory manufacturing, Nikon projects the ArFi market to grow 40-50 percent in the next ten years. “We hope a broad range of customers, including the big three semiconductor makers Intel, Samsung and TSMC, will use our systems.” The identity of Nikon’s development partner is being withheld, but the collaboration extends beyond 2030 with the development of follow-on models.