Intel Celebrates ‘Landmark’ as High-Volume EUV Production Starts at Irish Plant, Reports Reuters

By Padraic Halpin and Max A. Cherney

LEIXLIP, Ireland – Chipmaker Intel announced on Friday that it has initiated high-volume production with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines at its €18.5 billion plant in Ireland, marking a significant milestone as the company aims to reclaim its competitive edge.

Once the foremost chip manufacturer globally, Intel has fallen behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co but is confident in its plans to regain leadership with manufacturing technologies designed to rival the best in the industry.

The EUV tools, which are precisely engineered, play a crucial role in Intel’s ambition to deliver five generations of technology within four years. Ann Kelleher, Intel’s general manager of technology development, confirmed to reporters that the company is on track to achieve this goal; two manufacturing processes are now complete, a third is progressing quickly, and the final two are advancing well.

Located in Leixlip, just outside Dublin, this plant serves as the first high-volume site for Intel’s advanced manufacturing process, Intel 4, utilizing EUV technology. This process will facilitate the production of the upcoming “Meteor Lake” chip for laptops, designed to support AI advancements in personal computing.

The EUV machines, manufactured by a Dutch company, are comparable in size to a bus and cost approximately $150 million each. Currently, seven of these machines operate in the facility, where a network of overhead robots—each as expensive as an average luxury car—transport silicon wafers across 22 kilometers of track.

Kelleher also mentioned that Intel expects to receive its first next-generation EUV machine, the High-NA EUV, at its Oregon facility later this year. The company claims it will be the first in the industry to obtain this advanced machine.

Traditionally, Intel finalizes its new manufacturing processes at a research and development site in Hillsboro, Oregon, before replicating these processes at other facilities.

In addition to the Irish plant, Intel has plans for a major chip complex in Germany and a semiconductor assembly and testing facility in Poland. These new sites will benefit from relaxed funding regulations and subsidies within the EU, as the bloc seeks to reduce reliance on supply chains from the U.S. and Asia.

During the opening ceremony of the Irish plant, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger hailed the achievement as a “great day for Europe.”