What is EUV lithography?

How it works

Lithography projects a circuit pattern from a template, called a mask or reticle, onto a silicon wafer. The smallest feature a machine can print is proportional to the wavelength of its light divided by the numerical aperture (NA) of its optics. NA measures the range of angles the system can work with. An ASML engineering director explained this in a 2023 IEEE Spectrum article. EUV cut the wavelength from the previous generation's 193 nanometers to 13.5.

ASML says a laser fires two pulses at a fast-moving droplet of tin, up to 50,000 times a second, and the vaporized tin gives off EUV light. EUV light is absorbed by everything, including air. So the whole light path sits in a vacuum, and multilayer mirrors replace lenses. The mask is reflective too.

ASML says its standard NXE machines (NA 0.33) print at a resolution of 13 nanometers and its newer High-NA EXE machines (NA 0.55) reach 8.

Why it matters

Chipmakers use EUV for the most intricate layers of a chip and older deep ultraviolet (DUV) machines for the rest, ASML says. Reuters reported in September 2026 that the Dutch company has no commercial rival in EUV. ASML says that in time only it, with partners and suppliers, kept working toward a viable system. It says it invested more than 6 billion euros in EUV research over 17 years. It says its first production machine shipped in 2013.

EUV machines are covered by U.S.-led export restrictions on China. In June 2026 ASML told Reuters it had never shipped an EUV machine to China. Bloomberg News had reported that U.S. officials were concerned one may have reached the country.

Where things stand in 2026

In its July 2026 results, ASML said its 2026 capacity for standard (low-NA) EUV tools is around 65. It said it plans to add 30% for 2027. High-NA is newer: ASML says it delivered the first such system in December 2023. Reuters reported in May 2026 that the machines can cost up to $400 million each and that TSMC had called them too expensive for now.

In September 2026 Reuters reported that TSMC had committed to using High-NA from 2030. Reuters said Samsung and SK Hynix planned to use it for memory chips from 2028. Intel, the first adopter, said it had processed more than a million wafers on the machines.