A single US$400 million lithography machine received a new purchase: Samsung and TSMC reversed their attitude, and the three major chip giants fully embraced ASML.US (ASML.US)'s most advanced High NA EUV

The Zhitong Finance App notes that ASML.US (ASML.US) has received usage promises from top chip manufacturers to use its latest semiconductor production equipment while moving towards a broader cooperation agreement to meet the surge in demand for more powerful artificial intelligence technology.

Samsung Electronics and TSMC plan to start mass production of Asmack's high numerical aperture extreme ultraviolet (High NA EUV) lithography equipment in 2028 and 2030, respectively, and will work with Intel to use these single machines that can cost up to 400 million US dollars. Samsung is a leading manufacturer of memory chips, while TSMC is a leading manufacturer of customized chips for companies such as Nvidia and Apple.

The four companies also reached an esoteric yet critical transformation agreement on photomask (photomask, also known as mask version), a technical format for the core component of semiconductor production. As the industry competes to keep up with surging demand for artificial intelligence, the camp plans to move from the current standard 6-inch mask to the 12-inch version, which aims to increase productivity and reduce costs. Photomasks are similar to woodblock prints used to print the same pattern over and over, except that they use light to print on silicon wafers.

Although the shift to larger mask sizes has long been considered complicated and expensive, this collaborative push has brought huge benefits to chip production. Asmack's chief technology officer Marco Pitts said the new technology could increase the throughput of High NA machines by 40% while simplifying the design process.

In an interview, Peters said, “This is a huge opportunity, and of course it also means a leap in productivity.”

Asmack is the only company in the world that can manufacture extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography devices, which are necessary to manufacture the world's most advanced artificial intelligence accelerators and similar chips. The company introduced Low NA EUV in 2019 and has been working with customers to drive adoption of more advanced High NA machines.

TSMC's factory undertakes OEM production for customers from Nvidia, AMD to Qualcomm, etc., and the company has always been cautious about using more expensive equipment, believing that the productivity increase it brings is not enough to match its costs.

However, according to a statement on Tuesday, TSMC is currently planning to use a High NA system based on an existing 6-inch mask starting in 2030. The two companies aim to build a test line to produce a 12-inch mask by 2031 as part of the process to put this technology into production along with High NA tools by 2033.

TSMC CEO Wei Zhejia said in a statement: “TSMC has always believed in the power of cooperation to overcome technical barriers before they become economic barriers to the semiconductor industry.”

Samsung, which also provides logic chip foundry services and is one of the world's largest memory chip manufacturers, plans to start using Asmack's High NA machines for computer memory by 2028. The South Korean company said in a separate statement that it will “work closely with industry partners to develop the required mask technology and supporting infrastructure.”

The global shortage of memory chips caused by huge demand from AI data center operators is currently driving up production costs for the entire electronics industry.

Intel previously received High NA machines in order to switch from only producing its own chips to providing outsourced OEM services. The company said it has been able to offer potential customers the benefits of this technology. For three years, Intel has been contributing to the transition to larger mask sizes.

TSMC's re-embrace of cutting-edge chip-making tools is critical to Asmat's growth. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the Taiwanese company accounts for about 16% of Asmack's revenue. The growing commitment from Samsung and Intel means that the Dutch company's three customers have all joined this transformation.

“This is an important step for High NA in mass manufacturing,” said Peters of Asmack. This is a key point where customers recognize the advantages of these systems over multi-patterning (multi-patterning) strategies.”

Peters pointed out that as customers advance to next-generation chip manufacturing, they expect the number of layers requiring High NA technology to increase, so “they are also aware of the opportunity to expand the mask size.”

Lithography is the process of using light to engrave patterns into materials deposited on silicon wafers. These patterns are then filled with other materials to form transistors and connections that give the device various functions (mainly data processing and storage). The industry's efforts to reduce the size of these features are forcing device makers to explore increasingly unusual technologies. Asmack's most advanced machines use extreme ultraviolet light as a light source, a type of light that cannot be naturally produced on Earth.

The limitations brought about by 6-inch light masks that have been in use for decades have led to a series of compromises and compromises, which in turn have slowed the pace of improvements to the core components of AI data center computers. Since individual chips cannot be made larger, companies have switched to vertical stacking and complex interface layouts, which increases the complexity and cost of manufacturing and deploying chips.