ASML, Intel Foundry, Samsung and TSMC Report High-NA EUV Progress and 12-Inch Photomask Initiatives

Intel Foundry and ASML reported continued progress on High Numerical Aperture (High NA) Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography at the SPIE Photomask Technology + Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography conference. High NA is in high-volume manufacturing production at Intel Foundry, with more than one million wafers processed to date across early tool certification and testing, research and development, and volume production on select layers for a subset of Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors, code-named Panther Lake. Overlay, throughput and availability meet Intel Foundry’s expectations.

Products manufactured on Intel 18A using High NA for select layers deliver performance that meets or exceeds comparable layers patterned using the NXE platform (EUV with numerical aperture of 0.33). Customers can use High NA with the industry’s current 6-inch mask format, either by floor-planning within the 6-inch mask or through Intel Foundry’s stitching capabilities and process design kit (PDK) solutions.

For more than three years, Intel Foundry has worked on the large mask format initiative with ASML, mask makers, automation suppliers, EDA partners, materials providers and semiconductor manufacturers to advance standards, infrastructure and technology for future High NA scaling.

Christophe Fouquet, president and CEO of ASML, said: “Intel Foundry has be...