Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), a leading chip manufacturer, has announced that, come 2024, it will have access to an advanced chipmaking tool 'to fuel innovation'. The tool -called high-NA EUV and developed by Netherlands-based ASML Holding -is designed to produce beams of focused light that create the microscopic circuit on chips used in a wide range of devices and machines, from phones and laptops to AI devices and cars. (ASML is the world's largest producer of chipmaking tools and the only one to have developed extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems.)
Why is this important? TSMC acquiring the advanced tool is part of the competition game with Intel, which had announced it would be the first to acquire high-NA EUV and would start using it in 2025. TSMC's intention for 2024 is to use the tool mostly for research; it remains to be seen when it will become part of mass-production processes.