ASML claims EUV upgrade could raise chip production by 50%

ASML makes the machines that most chipmakers use, and its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools are central to modern chip production. In the EUV process, patterned light is shone onto silicon wafers to etch chip layouts, and reflecting EUV light causes significant losses that require very powerful light sources.

The company’s current EUV setup uses flying molten tin droplets zapped by powerful lasers. Reuters reported that ASML has boosted EUV output from 600 W to 1,000 W, a step the firm says would translate into roughly 50% more chip output because machines could process more wafers per hour — about 330 wafers versus 220 today — even though yields per wafer would not improve.

ASML expects the higher throughput to be achievable by 2030, so the wider effects on chip supply will take years to arrive.

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