Imec and ASML jointly announced that the high numerical aperture (NA) EUV lithography technology co-developed by the two parties has made key progress, with a critical dimension (CD) of 13nm. This breakthrough enables the fabrication of FinFET transistor structures through a single exposure, laying a solid foundation for advanced chip manufacturing at 7nm and below process nodes.

The core of the technical upgrade lies in the optimization of the optical system: the new equipment adopts a 0.55NA optical system, which significantly enhances light-gathering capability compared to the 0.33NA of traditional EUV lithography. Combined with the phase correction technology of the new Zeiss optical lens group, the minimum laser spot size is compressed to 13nm. This improvement reduces the number of exposure steps from 5 in the traditional process to 1, increasing chip manufacturing yield by 35%.

ASML's Chief Technology Officer revealed that the new equipment features a dual-stage parallel processing design, capable of handling 180 wafers per hour—representing a 20% increase in production efficiency. Despite a staggering unit price of 350 million US dollars (a 40% increase from the previous generation), TSMC and Samsung have already placed orders for 10 and 8 units respectively, planning to deploy them in their 3nm process mass production lines in 2026. Industry analysts believe that this technology will further consolidate ASML's dominant market position, while the high equipment cost may intensify the concentration of the chip manufacturing industry.