China unveils a desktop-sized extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source capable of producing small batches of 14 nm chips.
Chinese researchers have allegedly developed a new desktop-sized extreme ultraviolet lithography light source for producing 14-nanometre microchips. While the new technology cannot replace traditional Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography machines, it offers an interesting alternative for producing small batches when needed.
According to reports, the new technology could yield other important functions, such as chip inspection, quantum chip prototyping, and photomask defect detection.The new tech, in other words, is not a mini-ASML EUV machine, but could prove to something incredibly useful for research and development and small-scale fabrication. It is also a significant step toward independence in high-end chipmaking tools.ASML machines tend to use something called laser-produced plasma to blast tin droplets under controlled conditions. Such machines require enormous collector mirrors .To the extremeThis new machine, however, reportedly uses a femtosecond laser to fire into argon gas. This setup produces EUV via something called high-harmonic generation.According to reports, this means the device doesn’t require giant mirrors and doesn’t rely on tin droplets. For this reason, it is a dramatically simpler system and can produce tunable wavelengths from 1 nm to 200 nm.Traditional ASMLs are also power-hungry things, typically needing around 200 watts of EUV power to expose wafers at production speed. China’s new machine, on the other hand, only consumes around 1 microwatt per blast. That’s 200 million times less than ASML’s production-level power. This also means that it cannot be used to mass-produce advanced chips. That’s why 14 nm small-batch production is possible, but commercial-scale manufacturing is not.But the “exposure window” is tiny, so brightness per unit area is surprisingly usable for things like inspecting photomasks, checking transistor structures, or etching or exposing tiny experimental chips.At present, ASML machines are huge things, typically measuring tens of meters in size. These machines are able to produce microchips between 3nm and 7nm in large quantities. Not a replacement for ASMLIf claims are true, this new machine, on the other hand, is much smaller and can produce chips of similar size and quality. It achieves this using high-harmonic generation and is small enough to sit on an office desk.Because of its design and size, the new tech is cheap and has relatively low running costs. While it can only produce small batch production or lab experiments, it is seen as perfect for inspection and research, not factories.Despite this, China desperately needs machines like this because it cannot buy ASML’s cutting-edge machines. It also lacks the mirrors needed for ASML-style EUV, and its own EUV programs are lagging globally.So building an HHG-based EUV source at 13.5 nm is meaningful. According to experts, the new tech is compact, cheap, and good enough for research + small chip batches.If scaled, it could help Chinese manufacturers improve yields at 14 nm and 28 nm, and it is also a major step in chip inspection and mask alignment. It also embodies China’s plans to reduce its reliance on Western tools in R&D environments while not breaking existing international sanctions.
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