Shenzhen Factory Successfully Develops EUV Lithography Machine, British Media Says Former ASML Engineer Played a Key Role: Testing Is in Full Swing!
On December 17, Reuters reported that a team in Shenzhen has completed a working prototype of an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine. It's not just a concept diagram on a PowerPoint presentation or a half-finished product in a lab — it's a real device that occupies an entire factory workshop and is currently undergoing intensive testing.
EUV technology is the only tool for manufacturing chips with advanced processes of 7 nanometers and below. For a long time, it has been monopolized by ASML alone. Few companies in the world can afford this "money-printing machine," and Chinese companies have been explicitly excluded from export licenses since 2019. Without EUV, it is impossible to independently produce high-end AI chips, smartphone SoCs, or advanced server processors — this is the tightest lock around China's semiconductor industry.
The article confidently states that the core person behind this project is believed to be a senior engineer who previously worked at ASML in the Netherlands.
Whether he is an ASML engineer from the Netherlands, we don't know. However, Dao Ge believes there must have been a major breakthrough, which is why Reuters said so. How could a single person complete a lithography machine? Just ask whether ASML can now rely solely on the Netherlands to do it. Let alone doing it with just one person.
EUV is not just a single piece of equipment; it is an entire ecosystem: high-purity hydrogen supply, ultra-clean workshops, precision metrology calibration, and even supporting photoresists and masks. Even if the equipment itself can run, achieving stable mass production still requires breakthroughs in multiple links such as materials, processes, and inspection.
Therefore, it will not be announced immediately. But regardless of that, this is ultimately good news.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1851808427914251/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.