High-NA optics: the battle for the angles

Development of the high-NA EUV scanner is on schedule. Despite some delays in the supply chain here and there, ASML will ship the first Twinscan EXE:5000 shortly. Intel says it will be the recipient of this machine. A second tool, assembled more or less concurrently, will remain in Veldhoven. ASML and Imec will use it to finetune process technology, enabling chipmakers to get off to a flying start once production tools become available in early 2025.

The resolution gain of high-NA scanners is considerable: about forty percent. Whereas a first-generation EUV scanner can theoretically produce sharp images of 13-nanometer structures, its successor draws the line at eight nanometers. For that extra five nanometers, chipmakers will pay a whopping 300+ million euros per tool.