Why Only ASML Mastered EUV Lithography While China Is Still Catching Up
China has poured tens of billions of dollars into developing its domestic semiconductor industry, yet it has not managed to bring a commercial EUV lithography machine to market, which serves as a crucial piece of equipment for manufacturing the most advanced microchips.
Today, commercial EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography) systems are produced by just one company globally: Netherlands-based ASML. Other lithography equipment manufacturers, such as Canon and Nikon, continue to produce DUV machines, but they have failed to succeed in developing a commercial EUV system.
A Machine Impossible to Build Alone
A modern EUV scanner represents one of the most complex machines ever engineered by humanity.
According to various estimates, it consists of more than 100,000 components produced by hundreds of specialized companies across the globe. ASML itself manufactures only a small fraction of these parts, operating primarily as a master system integrator that unites them into a single functioning ecosystem.
Precisely this ability to combine thousands of ultra-high-precision modules and guarantee their flawless joint operation serves as the primary competitive edge of the company.
The Critical Role of Germany
Although ASML calls the Netherlands home, critically vital technologies flow in from companies across multiple nations. Germany plays a particularly decisive role in this global network.
Zeiss manufactures an extraordinary optical system consisting of mirrors engineered for EUV light transmission. The surface of these mirrors is polished with precision on the order of a few tens of picometers, which is substantially smaller than a single atom. If scaled up to the geographic size of Germany, the highest bump on the mirror surface would measure merely a fraction of a millimeter.
Another German manufacturer, TRUMPF, supplies high-power CO₂ lasers utilized in generating EUV light. The light source itself was developed by Cymer, an American firm acquired by ASML in 2013.
Astonishing Energy Inefficiency
EUV lithography stands out because it is extraordinarily power-intensive. A complete scanner consumes roughly 1 megawatt of electricity. Yet after passing through every stage of generation, reflection, and filtering, only a few dozen watts of useful EUV light reach the silicon wafer.
Despite such a low overall energy efficiency ratio, this exact technology enables the volume production of cutting-edge microchips.
Why Competitors Failed to Replicate the Success
Building an EUV system turned out to be less of a pure engineering hurdle and more of a massive organizational challenge.
Rather than attempting to develop every single component internally, ASML established an international ecosystem of suppliers where each vendor leads the world in its specific domain.
In 2012, major semiconductor manufacturers, including Intel, Samsung, and TSMC, invested approximately $5.4 billion into ASML to acquire equity stakes in the enterprise. These capital injections dramatically accelerated the development of EUV technology while transforming clients into strategic investors and partners.
Current Progress in China
China is aggressively expanding its domestic lithography industry.
SMEE has made notable progress in developing DUV equipment while steadily broadening the capabilities of its machines. Concurrently, state funds back large-scale research initiatives targeting EUV technology. However, Chinese manufacturers have yet to present a commercially viable EUV scanner.
Despite these hurdles, semiconductor manufacturer SMIC produces modern chips at the 7nm node using multi-patterning DUV lithography. While this approach bypasses EUV requirements, it demands significantly more process steps, reduces yields, and inflates production costs.
The Evolution of ASML
ASML originated in 1984 as a modest joint venture between Philips and ASM International. Early employees worked under humble conditions, and few could have predicted that this small team would emerge as a global technology powerhouse.
Today, ASML commands a valuation in the hundreds of billions of dollars, holding an effective monopoly over the EUV lithography market.
Assessing China's Technology Gap
Determining the exact extent of the technological divide remains challenging.
Industry experts estimate the gap at anywhere from a few years to roughly a decade, though such figures remain inherently subjective. China ramps up investment annually, expands domestic capabilities, and reduces reliance on foreign supply chains, meaning the true timeline depends heavily on technological momentum and the stringency of export controls.
One conclusion stands beyond doubt: constructing a modern EUV lithography machine is no longer a task for a single company or even a single country. It represents the cumulative result of cooperation among hundreds of high-tech enterprises, decades of scientific research, and massive financial investments. That is precisely why ASML remains the sole manufacturer of equipment without which mass production of advanced semiconductors is simply impossible.
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