The Chip Insider® – China's EUV "DeepSeek Moment”

If you follow TSMC's Dr. Kim Seo-Yuen on X, you probably read the comment that China's development of "… EUV generation … is a DeepSeek moment for lithography"… The question is, is this "DeepSeek" moment just a repeat, where in Phase 1 it was a media projection of China racing ahead and then an image fadeout in Phase 2 as everyone realized it was nothing more than new ideas... using western technology? Some of its key points were that "The LDP approach is simpler, smaller, more cost-effective, and better energy efficiency." Also, "Beijing is developing an EUV mega source... called the "High Energy Photon Source" … it is a storage ring synchrotron particle accelerator and is planned to provide 1000x more power than a single ASML High NA machine." … Synchrotrons, while very useful for research, are not practical for manufacturing because… Another reason was that X-ray lithography died … due to …

LDP Source: It’s somewhat true that "The LDP approach is simpler, smaller, more cost-effective and better energy efficiency" compared to the LPP sources used in ASML’s tools. But it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish… It’s cost-effective for inspection, but what about lithography? … The cost jumps to … Worse, the fab has to be larger and cost far more … Such a cost would kill the hi-NA EUV market while also killing semiconductor advancement.

ASML knows lithography tools better than any company, which is why they chose to develop the more complex, larger, and higher energy output source: it’s an order of magnitude better for its customer’s profitability. They win and the customer wins.

The technology gap can also be timestamped with China’s development of its own LDP source. There was one EUV scanner in the world delivered with a LDP/DPP1 source: It went to imec in 2011 …

The Strategic China/West Technology Gap: … all they have is a developed light source technology … version of 15-year-old Western technology that’s 20x less powerful. Media reports call it an EUV tool. It’s not a tool… It’s little more than a lightbulb…That leaves a geopolitical question of …

Questions & Answers: Intel Direct Connect: Hi Dan, Good piece on Intel today. Where would you put their chances of success? … Huawei redefines hyperscaler: Dan, What did you make of reports that Huawei is building 3 fabs. Has anyone ever gone this vertical? …

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” – Winston Churchill