4 ms·

The Semiconductor Industry’s Most Important Tool Goes Green

89 points by mfiguiere 3y ago

krisoft 3y ago
I feel very craft every time I do some sand casting, or maybe etch a two sided PCB. But compared to an EUV lithography system these crafts are like banging rocks together. It is incredible that humans designed and operate systems of this complexity.
- xhkkffbf 3y ago
  I don't think most people understand just how fine the precision happens to be. All that hard work just so people can laugh at memes as quickly as possible.
  - ChatGTP 3y ago
    It’s mostly about watching “moar porn” and selling ads.
    - choilive 3y ago
      We truly live in an age of wonders
- B1FF_PSUVM 3y ago
  > systems of this complexity I'm amazed that any of this stuff works for more than a couple of minutes at a time, or at all. I mean, if you think of items with 99.9999% reliability, and do the math for a whole chain of them ...
- civilitty 3y ago
  Banging rocks together is the first step in precision manufacturing! You take three rocks and start scraping a designated surface on each of them together until they’re all flat. That gives you your first flat reference surface against which the rest of your civilization will be built! :)
DHaldane 3y ago
The article doesn't go into much detail on this, but the UV source using the hydrogen here is incredibly cool. To get the 13.5nm light they need, they use a 20kW CO2 laser to explode tin droplets into plasma that emits the correct wavelength. 50,000 droplets per second. And they use a smaller laser to first shape the droplet into a little dish shape that explodes better. Shown better in a video - https://youtu.be/5Ge2RcvDlgw?t=648 https://youtu.be/5Ge2RcvDlgw?t=648
- rhinoceraptor 3y ago
  LTT also did a facility tour at ASML a few weeks ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfU20SAR21A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfU20SAR21A
  - Nickels2102 3y ago
    ASML (or as the news once called them "an obscure Dutch firm") is the magic behind our most cutting edge technology, they make the machines that make the chips in all of the most advanced technology. If this AI boom is like the gold rush, and GPU makers are the guys selling the shovel to the gold miners, well ASML is the guy making the shovel making machine to sell to GPU makers. They're also at least partially responsible for the massive chip shortage we have been going through. ASML was expecting to get their newest technology figured out and sold to chip manufacturers, but ran into some unexpected hurdles and it was delayed. Those chip makers had been expecting this new tech, and so were their customers, and now had to alter their plans to use "not the latest and greatest chips" but rather the next best thing they could get their hands on. Now all those devices that wanted the new chips have to fight over the ones that are already existing, and meanwhile COVID causes tech needs to skyrocket (honestly, just Chromebooks for schools alone were a massive amount) while also screwing up shipping, and Crypto is obviously still all the rage. So massive demand spike combined with a lower supply, leads to a huge shortage and price spike for devices with chips.
    - ChuckNorris89 3y ago
      Not to steal your thunder, but the secret sauce to ASMLs success, the EUV tech, was developed by Sandia Labs USA and ASML bought the license to use it, and the other secret sauce, the insanely tricky EUV light source is developed and built by Cymer USA which ASML also bought. So, pretty sure the US deserves at least an honorable mention here for inventing and building the tech ASML packages and sells.
sproketboy 3y ago
[dead]
hinkley 3y ago
The lede: Edwards’ hydrogen recovery system is “similar to a fuel cell, in reverse,” says Keen. After mixing the gas with a bit of moisture and nitrogen, the hydrogen is ionized, and an electric field forces the resulting ions through a proton-exchange membrane. On the other side of the membrane the protons recombine with electrons to form pure hydrogen. And a final purification step removes any water that migrated through the membrane. All the contaminants remain on the other side of the cell where they can be collected and disposed of. So they’re using a membrane meant for fuel cells as a filter and electrolyzing the gas through it. Not bad. I was expecting a distillation process where they settle everything else out and get chilled hydrogen gas at the end. With the amount of cooling equipment already on site I figured that would be the easiest.

89 points by mfiguiere 3y ago

I feel very craft every time I do some sand casting, or maybe etch a two sided PCB. But compared to an EUV lithography system these crafts are like banging rocks together. It is incredible that humans designed and operate systems of this complexity.

xhkkffbf 3y ago
I don't think most people understand just how fine the precision happens to be. All that hard work just so people can laugh at memes as quickly as possible.
- ChatGTP 3y ago
  It’s mostly about watching “moar porn” and selling ads.
  - choilive 3y ago
    We truly live in an age of wonders
B1FF_PSUVM 3y ago
> systems of this complexity I'm amazed that any of this stuff works for more than a couple of minutes at a time, or at all. I mean, if you think of items with 99.9999% reliability, and do the math for a whole chain of them ...
civilitty 3y ago
Banging rocks together is the first step in precision manufacturing! You take three rocks and start scraping a designated surface on each of them together until they’re all flat. That gives you your first flat reference surface against which the rest of your civilization will be built! :)

DHaldane 3y ago

The article doesn't go into much detail on this, but the UV source using the hydrogen here is incredibly cool. To get the 13.5nm light they need, they use a 20kW CO2 laser to explode tin droplets into plasma that emits the correct wavelength. 50,000 droplets per second. And they use a smaller laser to first shape the droplet into a little dish shape that explodes better. Shown better in a video - https://youtu.be/5Ge2RcvDlgw?t=648 https://youtu.be/5Ge2RcvDlgw?t=648

rhinoceraptor 3y ago
LTT also did a facility tour at ASML a few weeks ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfU20SAR21A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfU20SAR21A
- Nickels2102 3y ago
  ASML (or as the news once called them "an obscure Dutch firm") is the magic behind our most cutting edge technology, they make the machines that make the chips in all of the most advanced technology. If this AI boom is like the gold rush, and GPU makers are the guys selling the shovel to the gold miners, well ASML is the guy making the shovel making machine to sell to GPU makers. They're also at least partially responsible for the massive chip shortage we have been going through. ASML was expecting to get their newest technology figured out and sold to chip manufacturers, but ran into some unexpected hurdles and it was delayed. Those chip makers had been expecting this new tech, and so were their customers, and now had to alter their plans to use "not the latest and greatest chips" but rather the next best thing they could get their hands on. Now all those devices that wanted the new chips have to fight over the ones that are already existing, and meanwhile COVID causes tech needs to skyrocket (honestly, just Chromebooks for schools alone were a massive amount) while also screwing up shipping, and Crypto is obviously still all the rage. So massive demand spike combined with a lower supply, leads to a huge shortage and price spike for devices with chips.
  - ChuckNorris89 3y ago
    Not to steal your thunder, but the secret sauce to ASMLs success, the EUV tech, was developed by Sandia Labs USA and ASML bought the license to use it, and the other secret sauce, the insanely tricky EUV light source is developed and built by Cymer USA which ASML also bought. So, pretty sure the US deserves at least an honorable mention here for inventing and building the tech ASML packages and sells.

sproketboy 3y ago

[dead]

hinkley 3y ago

The lede: Edwards’ hydrogen recovery system is “similar to a fuel cell, in reverse,” says Keen. After mixing the gas with a bit of moisture and nitrogen, the hydrogen is ionized, and an electric field forces the resulting ions through a proton-exchange membrane. On the other side of the membrane the protons recombine with electrons to form pure hydrogen. And a final purification step removes any water that migrated through the membrane. All the contaminants remain on the other side of the cell where they can be collected and disposed of. So they’re using a membrane meant for fuel cells as a filter and electrolyzing the gas through it. Not bad. I was expecting a distillation process where they settle everything else out and get chilled hydrogen gas at the end. With the amount of cooling equipment already on site I figured that would be the easiest.