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High-NA EUV (EXE)ASML—Low-NA EUV (NXE)ASML—Low-NA EUV (NXE)ASML—
Low-NA EUV (NXE)
Courtesy of ASML · Press kit, editorial use (opens asml.com)

Low-NA EUV (NXE)

by ASMLNL

ScalingStage 5 of 5

The workhorse for all leading chips and advanced memory.

Updated 15 Jul 2026Checked 25 Sep0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · NXE:4000F, the next low-NA EUV scanner (250+ wafers an hour), due on ASML's roadmap
  1. EUV used in high-volume production (N7+)2019Complete.
  2. NXE:3800E at 220 wafers/hour shipping2024Complete.

Most important updates

  • 15 Jul 2026
  • 23 Feb 2026
  • Dec 2020
  • 6 Jan 2020

Upcoming

  1. 2027NXE:4000F, the next low-NA EUV scanner (250+ wafers an hour), due on ASML's roadmap (next)

Current obstacles

  • Source power and uptimeSpeed depends on light-source power. Keeping tin debris off the mirrors and uptime high is constant work.

Physics limits

  • Almost everything absorbs EUV lightAir, glass and even the best mirrors absorb 13.5 nm light. Each mirror reflects only about 70%, so after roughly ten mirrors just a few percent of the source's light reaches the wafer.
  • Making the light is very inefficientOnly a few percent of the laser's energy becomes usable 13.5 nm light, so a scanner draws around a megawatt. Throughput is capped by how much power the tin plasma can deliver.
  • Single exposures stop near 13 nm linesAt NA 0.33, one exposure can't print lines much finer than about 13 nm. Tighter patterns need two or more exposures, multiplying cost, time and alignment error.

How it works

3 parts
The EUV light source of an NXE:3800E: a laser hits falling tin droplets and the glowing plasma gives off 13.5 nm light
The EUV light source of an NXE:3800E: a laser hits falling tin droplets and the glowing plasma gives off 13.5 nm lightCourtesy of ASML · Press kit, editorial use (opens ourbrand.asml.com)
Source

Tin droplets and a laser

Molten tin droplets are hit twice by a CO₂ laser about 50,000 times a second, making a plasma that glows at 13.5 nm.

Optics

Mirrors in a vacuum

Glass and air absorb EUV, so the light is steered by mirrors made of alternating molybdenum and silicon layers, all inside a vacuum.

Scan

Mask and wafer move together

A reflective mask and the wafer scan past each other in sync. The NXE:3800E prints about 220 wafers an hour, aligning layers to within 0.9 nm.

Update log

4 updates

Wed 15 Jul

  • Minor: PressManufacturing

Mon 23 Feb

  • Minor: PressResearch

Dec 2020

  • Minor: PressManufacturing

Mon 6 Jan 2020

  • Major: PressRegulatory

About ASML

The team behind Low-NA EUV (NXE)

ASML

EUV lithography machines

ASML, based in the Netherlands, is the only maker of EUV lithography machines, which every leading chip factory needs. They print circuit patterns with extreme-ultraviolet light. Its next generation, High-NA EUV, prints even finer lines.

  • Only EUV supplier. A standard machine costs about €200M, a High-NA one about €350M or more.
  • Shipped the first High-NA EUV machine to Intel in December 2023.
  • Led Mistral AI's Series C with €1.3B in September 2025.

asml.com (opens asml.com)Company profile →

Founded
198442 yrs
Headquarters
Netherlands
Status
Public
Listed
ASML (opens google.com)NASDAQ
Valuation
public
Staff
~44,027Dec 2024
Works in
ComputingLithography machinesManufacturing
Coverage
2 programs · 13 updateslatest 15 Jul 2026checked 25 Sep
Customers
TSMCIntelSamsung (opens semiconductor.samsung.com)
Partners
Mistral AI
Suppliers
Carl Zeiss SMTTrumpf (opens trumpf.com)
People
Christophe Fouquet (opens asml.com)President and CEORoger Dassen (opens asml.com)CFO
Primer