ASML prints 10 nm dense lines with High-NA EUV, a lithography record

ASML/High-NA EUV (EXE)

ASML's prototype High-NA EUV scanner in Veldhoven printed the first-ever 10 nm dense lines (20 nm pitch), the finest lines any EUV lithography tool had produced. The exposures came after coarse calibration of optics, sensors and stages; ASML's next steps were full performance optimization and replication at customer sites.

• ASML High-NA EUV prototype achieved world-record 10 nm dense lines (20 nm pitch) on metal oxide resists, finest lines ever printed by any EUV tool.
• Exposures achieved after only coarse calibration; full-field optical lithography at this resolution marks key milestone toward commercial High-NA deployment.
• High-NA EUV (0.55 NA) enables single-exposure patterning of 20 nm metal lines versus multi-patterning with 0.33 NA EUV, improving yield and cycle time.