According to media reports, the US government has made another attempt to ban ASML’s high end chip manufacturing technology. The EUV exposure systems are not the issue, it’s the DUV scanners which are essential and the backbone for any wafer exposure.
Picture of DUV systems
ASML sells over 250 DUV (deep UV) systems each year. This is more than five times the number of EUV exposure machines. EUV scanners can only be used for small structures. DUV can cover a large portion of the above-nanometer classes in all areas. ASML expects to produce 375 DUV systems per year by 2025. China has been included in this forecast.
DUV is sufficient to make 28 nm chips
Because China is a big spender on the semiconductor industry. There was recently talk of investing $45 billion in DRAM. DUV is still largely used in this country; however, the three giants of non-China’s industry, Micron and Samsung, are slowly switching to EUV to certain exposure steps.
ASML supplies equipment at all stages of production. The technology from the Netherlands would not have been able to work in Chinese factories without it. The US trade restrictions had partially exempted the DUV systems, which were less advanced, from China’s ability to build new factories and set them up for production at 28nm and 14nm.
It was also rumored in spring that the People’s Republic would establish a chip platform to which Western companies could contribute. Analysts believe that anyone wanting to do business in China should also be able to interfere with it.
Even then, people knew that ASML was primarily a means to bring the high-tech banned in the country through detours. ASML is in the meantime diplomatic. They say that there is no speculation or rumors and that there have been no announcements. Nikon, which is a small lamp in the area of global exposure systems, noted that there was nothing to be unhappy about.
