Physics / mechanism
High-NA EUV lithography increases the numerical aperture of the projection optics from 0.33 (standard EUV) to 0.55, shrinking the minimum half-pitch from ~13 nm to ~8 nm. The optical path uses anamorphic mirrors — 4× demagnification in one axis, 8× in the other — to manage the larger chief-ray angle (up to 17° at mask level) without untenable mask 3D effects. Light source remains 13.5 nm laser-produced tin plasma. ASML’s EXE:5000 series is the only commercial platform; first tools shipped to Intel and imec in 2023–24. Throughput is currently ~20 wafers/hour versus ~160 for high-volume standard EUV, with cost-per-wafer roughly 4–5× higher. Stochastic defect budgets and pellicle availability remain unresolved production blockers.
Competitive landscape
Competing patterning routes for the same pitch range: multi-patterning on standard EUV (SAQP/SADP stacks), directed self-assembly (DSA), and nanoimprint (NIL, Canon). Multi-patterning adds overlay error and process steps but runs on installed base. DSA handles periodic dense patterns but lacks design flexibility. NIL offers low cost-per-wafer but struggles with defectivity and mix-and-match integration.
Companies using
Connected ideas
Sources
Frontier (open questions)
- To be added.