ASML starts developing Hyper NA, a successor to its most advanced EUV chipmaking tool

ASML/High-NA EUV (EXE)

ASML has begun developing Hyper NA, a successor to its most advanced EUV chipmaking machine, in work described in a peer-reviewed paper written with optics partner Zeiss. Engineers say it could be ready in about ten years, but ASML has not committed to producing it.

• The paper says Hyper NA could print features as small as 5 nanometers, more than a third smaller than today's High NA EUV tool.
• Zeiss says it can already make mirrors precise enough for the job, and ASML's current light source "can be reused as is."
• The machine would be barely larger than High NA tools, which are already about the size of a double-decker bus.
• Tools beyond Hyper NA would likely need a shorter wavelength of light, which is still a matter for academic research; the article gives no cost figure.