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Who makes those expensive machines? Are they made in-house by companies like TSMC? Or are they purchased from others? And whats the geopolitics of that part
by andrewmutz 4y ago
Who makes those expensive machines? Are they made in-house by companies like TSMC? Or are they purchased from others? And whats the geopolitics of that part of the supply chain (made in taiwan? made in china? made elsewhere?)
- thechao 4y agoIn many ways, ASML: https://www.asml.com/en/products/euv-lithography-systems https://www.asml.com/en/products/euv-lithography-systems
- briffle 4y agoASML is the very high end, but there are many other manufacturers as well. Canon and Nikon both make lithography systems used in many wafer fabs.
- r00fus 4y agoI really doubt anyone else than ASML can do 4nm (which this factory is planned to target).
- tpowell 4y agoInteresting 18min CNBC tour of ASML and their unique technology: https://youtu.be/iSVHp6CAyQ8 https://youtu.be/iSVHp6CAyQ8
- pkaye 4y agoThe machines are made by other companies. Lithography is the most expensive now and its made by ASML in Netherlands is the only solution for EUV lithography. But there are many steps in manufacturing and a machine for each. The major equipment manufactures are spread across US, Europe and Japan. In the US the three big equipment manufacturers are Applied Materials and Lam Research and KLA. The costs are probably driven by extreme engineering requirements (temperature, pressure, corrosive chemicals, low contamination) and R&D costs to meet these requirements. The production volumes are not high either. Its not like they are building millions of these machines. Asianometry on YouTube is a good source for this kind of topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ge2RcvDlgw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ge2RcvDlgw