Belgium’s imec Achieves Breakthroughs with New ASML Chip Printing Machine, Reports Reuters

By Toby Sterling

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Belgium’s imec, a leading semiconductor research and development organization, announced several significant advancements in chip-making technology during a presentation on Wednesday. These developments occurred at a collaborative laboratory with ASML, utilizing the latest €350 million ($382 million) chip printing machine from the Dutch company.

Imec reported that it successfully printed circuitry that is equal to or smaller than the finest currently available in commercial production, applicable to both logic and memory chips, all accomplished in a single process with ASML’s innovative "High NA" tool.

This progress indicates that prominent chip manufacturers are likely to effectively utilize this technology over the next few years to produce smaller and faster chips in subsequent generations.

According to imec CEO Luc Van den Hove, the High NA tool will play a crucial role in advancing the dimensional scaling of both logic and memory technologies.

Imec also highlighted that many essential chemicals and tools for the overall chip-making procedure were effectively employed during their tests and seem to be on track for commercial production.

ASML stands as the leading supplier of equipment for semiconductor manufacturers, primarily due to its expertise in lithography systems—large-scale machines employing light beams to create intricate circuitry.

The High NA tool’s ability to achieve smaller features in fewer steps may lead to significant cost savings for chipmakers, reinforcing the value of this expensive equipment.

Reports have emerged that Intel is acquiring the first two High NA tools, with a third expected to be allocated to TSMC later this year. TSMC is renowned for its chip production for major clients such as Nvidia and Apple.

Mark Philips, Intel’s director of lithography, communicated via email that “a second tool is required for the volume of wafers and experiments needed to support a development line.”

Additionally, other semiconductor manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron, have placed orders for High NA tools.