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Business Upturn
03-06-2025
- Business
- Business Upturn
LIS Technologies Inc. Bolsters its Technical Team with the addition of Prominent Researcher and Engineer Lukasz Urbanski, Ph.D., to Lead its Stable Isotope Laser Program
By GlobeNewswire Published on June 3, 2025, 23:10 IST Oak Ridge, Tennessee, June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LIS Technologies Inc. ('LIST' or 'the Company'), a proprietary developer of advanced laser technology and the only USA-origin and patented laser uranium enrichment company, today announced that it has engaged Lukasz Urbanski as the Director of its Stable Isotope Laser Program. Dr. Lukasz Urbanski is a seasoned technologist, bringing 12 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, specializing in high-power CO 2 laser systems for Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. As a High-Power Laser Systems Architect at ASML Research, he led the development of next-generation drive lasers, critical components for laser-produced plasma in high-volume manufacturing EUV lithography systems. His work focused on scaling laser power and efficiency while reducing technology costs, resulting in multiple world records in power output, stability, repetition rate, and system architecture. 'It is a joy to take on this role with LIS Technologies and spearhead the creation of its Stable Isotope Laser Program,' said Lukasz Urbanski, Ph.D., Stable Isotope Laser Program Director of LIS Technologies Inc. 'There is a major opportunity in pursuing the development of stable isotopes, and later medical isotopes, that the Company has seen fit to explore and I am delighted to lend my expertise and help to expand the possibilities of what CRISLA can achieve.' Figure 1 – LIS Technologies Inc. Engages Dr. Lukasz Urbanski as the Director of its Stable Isotope Laser Program. Prior to the architect role at ASML, Dr. Urbanski served as a Staff Systems Engineer, where he acted as a key interface between Research, Engineering, and Product Development teams. He coordinated cross-disciplinary efforts to translate early-stage innovations into manufacturable solutions, with a strong emphasis on system throughput and optical performance. His contributions spanned the entire product lifecycle, from concept and design through implementation, ensuring technical alignment and performance optimization across teams. Dr. Urbanski began his career in EUV research as a graduate student at the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center for EUV Science and Technology, where he advanced to a postdoctoral researcher role. During this time, he also contributed to research at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Before transitioning to academia and industry, he served as a Platoon Commander in the Polish Armed Forces after graduating from the Military University of Technology with a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Colorado State University with a focus on EUV Lasers, Nanopatterning, Nanofabrication, EUV Lithography. 'Lukasz is a top scientist and engineer with the knowledge and expertise required to spearhead this whole new program for the Company,' said Christo Liebenberg, CEO and Co-Founder of LIS Technologies Inc. 'The Stable Isotope Laser Program will open new market opportunities for LIST and deliver critical products, such as the isotopes required to enhance the performance of next-generation chips for AI and quantum computing, or potential medical isotopes that can drive healthcare breakthroughs. Lukasz's track record of guiding projects from inception will be invaluable, and I'm pleased to welcome him to the Company.' 'Dr. Urbanski sees our company's potential and market growth, having come from a company with a market worth of about $300 billion. Following his addition, we are now preparing to enter the rapidly expanding stable‑isotope market, alongside further developing the only U.S.‑origin, patented laser‑uranium‑enrichment technology, which is uniquely positioned to support the growing fuel demands of large civil reactors as well as advanced SMRs and microreactors,' said Jay Yu, Executive Chairman and President of LIS Technologies Inc. 'I feel humbled to have such a seasoned professional and technical expert to assist us in developing a potentially significant new revenue stream for the Company.' About LIS Technologies Inc. LIS Technologies Inc. (LIST) is a USA based, proprietary developer of a patented advanced laser technology, making use of infrared lasers to selectively excite the molecules of desired isotopes to separate them from other isotopes. The Laser Isotope Separation Technology (L.I.S.T) has a huge range of applications, including being the only USA-origin (and patented) laser uranium enrichment company, and several major advantages over traditional methods such as gas diffusion, centrifuges, and prior art laser enrichment. The LIST proprietary laser-based process is more energy-efficient and has the potential to be deployed with highly competitive capital and operational costs. L.I.S.T is optimized for LEU (Low Enriched Uranium) for existing civilian nuclear power plants, High-Assay LEU (HALEU) for the next generation of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and Microreactors, the production of stable isotopes for medical and scientific research, and applications in quantum computing manufacturing for semiconductor technologies. The Company employs a world class nuclear technical team working alongside leading nuclear entrepreneurs, former U.S. national leaders, and industry professionals, possessing strong relationships with government and private nuclear industries. In Dec 2024, LIS Technologies Inc. was selected as one of six domestic companies to participate in the Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) Enrichment Acquisition Program. This initiative allocates up to $3.4 billion overall, with contracts lasting for up to 10 years. Each awardee is slated to receive a minimum contract of $2 million. For more information please visit: For further information, please contact: Email: [email protected]Telephone: 800-388-5492 Follow us on X Platform Follow us on LinkedIn Forward Looking Statements This news release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements related to future events, which may impact our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as 'expects', 'anticipates', 'intends', 'plans', 'believes', 'will', 'should', 'could', 'would' or 'may' and other words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this news release and represent management's current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control. For LIS Technologies Inc., particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the following which are, and will be, exacerbated by any worsening of global business and economic environment: (i) risks related to the development of new or advanced technology, including difficulties with design and testing, cost overruns, development of competitive technology, loss of key individuals and uncertainty of success of patent filing, (ii) our ability to obtain contracts and funding to be able to continue operations and (iii) risks related to uncertainty regarding our ability to commercially deploy a competitive laser enrichment technology, (iv) risks related to the impact of government regulation and policies including by the DOE and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and other risks and uncertainties discussed in this and our other filings with the SEC. Only after successful completion of our Phase 2 Pilot Plant demonstration will LIS Technologies be able to make realistic economic predictions for a Commercial Facility. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release. These factors may not constitute all factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in any forward-looking statement. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release, except as required by law. Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with GlobeNewswire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same. GlobeNewswire provides press release distribution services globally, with substantial operations in North America and Europe.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
LIS Technologies Inc. Bolsters its Technical Team with the addition of Prominent Researcher and Engineer Lukasz Urbanski, Ph.D., to Lead its Stable Isotope Laser Program
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LIS Technologies Inc. ('LIST' or 'the Company'), a proprietary developer of advanced laser technology and the only USA-origin and patented laser uranium enrichment company, today announced that it has engaged Lukasz Urbanski as the Director of its Stable Isotope Laser Program. Dr. Lukasz Urbanski is a seasoned technologist, bringing 12 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, specializing in high-power CO2 laser systems for Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. As a High-Power Laser Systems Architect at ASML Research, he led the development of next-generation drive lasers, critical components for laser-produced plasma in high-volume manufacturing EUV lithography systems. His work focused on scaling laser power and efficiency while reducing technology costs, resulting in multiple world records in power output, stability, repetition rate, and system architecture. 'It is a joy to take on this role with LIS Technologies and spearhead the creation of its Stable Isotope Laser Program,' said Lukasz Urbanski, Ph.D., Stable Isotope Laser Program Director of LIS Technologies Inc. 'There is a major opportunity in pursuing the development of stable isotopes, and later medical isotopes, that the Company has seen fit to explore and I am delighted to lend my expertise and help to expand the possibilities of what CRISLA can achieve.' Figure 1 - LIS Technologies Inc. Engages Dr. Lukasz Urbanski as the Director of its Stable Isotope Laser Program. Prior to the architect role at ASML, Dr. Urbanski served as a Staff Systems Engineer, where he acted as a key interface between Research, Engineering, and Product Development teams. He coordinated cross-disciplinary efforts to translate early-stage innovations into manufacturable solutions, with a strong emphasis on system throughput and optical performance. His contributions spanned the entire product lifecycle, from concept and design through implementation, ensuring technical alignment and performance optimization across teams. Dr. Urbanski began his career in EUV research as a graduate student at the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center for EUV Science and Technology, where he advanced to a postdoctoral researcher role. During this time, he also contributed to research at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Before transitioning to academia and industry, he served as a Platoon Commander in the Polish Armed Forces after graduating from the Military University of Technology with a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Colorado State University with a focus on EUV Lasers, Nanopatterning, Nanofabrication, EUV Lithography. 'Lukasz is a top scientist and engineer with the knowledge and expertise required to spearhead this whole new program for the Company,' said Christo Liebenberg, CEO and Co-Founder of LIS Technologies Inc. 'The Stable Isotope Laser Program will open new market opportunities for LIST and deliver critical products, such as the isotopes required to enhance the performance of next-generation chips for AI and quantum computing, or potential medical isotopes that can drive healthcare breakthroughs. Lukasz's track record of guiding projects from inception will be invaluable, and I'm pleased to welcome him to the Company.' "Dr. Urbanski sees our company's potential and market growth, having come from a company with a market worth of about $300 billion. Following his addition, we are now preparing to enter the rapidly expanding stable‑isotope market, alongside further developing the only U.S.‑origin, patented laser‑uranium‑enrichment technology, which is uniquely positioned to support the growing fuel demands of large civil reactors as well as advanced SMRs and microreactors,' said Jay Yu, Executive Chairman and President of LIS Technologies Inc. "I feel humbled to have such a seasoned professional and technical expert to assist us in developing a potentially significant new revenue stream for the Company." About LIS Technologies Inc. LIS Technologies Inc. (LIST) is a USA based, proprietary developer of a patented advanced laser technology, making use of infrared lasers to selectively excite the molecules of desired isotopes to separate them from other isotopes. The Laser Isotope Separation Technology (L.I.S.T) has a huge range of applications, including being the only USA-origin (and patented) laser uranium enrichment company, and several major advantages over traditional methods such as gas diffusion, centrifuges, and prior art laser enrichment. The LIST proprietary laser-based process is more energy-efficient and has the potential to be deployed with highly competitive capital and operational costs. L.I.S.T is optimized for LEU (Low Enriched Uranium) for existing civilian nuclear power plants, High-Assay LEU (HALEU) for the next generation of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and Microreactors, the production of stable isotopes for medical and scientific research, and applications in quantum computing manufacturing for semiconductor technologies. The Company employs a world class nuclear technical team working alongside leading nuclear entrepreneurs, former U.S. national leaders, and industry professionals, possessing strong relationships with government and private nuclear industries. In Dec 2024, LIS Technologies Inc. was selected as one of six domestic companies to participate in the Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) Enrichment Acquisition Program. This initiative allocates up to $3.4 billion overall, with contracts lasting for up to 10 years. Each awardee is slated to receive a minimum contract of $2 million. For more information please visit: For further information, please contact:Email: info@ 800-388-5492Follow us on X Platform Follow us on LinkedIn Forward Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements related to future events, which may impact our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "will", "should", "could", "would" or "may" and other words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this news release and represent management's current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control. For LIS Technologies Inc., particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the following which are, and will be, exacerbated by any worsening of global business and economic environment: (i) risks related to the development of new or advanced technology, including difficulties with design and testing, cost overruns, development of competitive technology, loss of key individuals and uncertainty of success of patent filing, (ii) our ability to obtain contracts and funding to be able to continue operations and (iii) risks related to uncertainty regarding our ability to commercially deploy a competitive laser enrichment technology, (iv) risks related to the impact of government regulation and policies including by the DOE and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and other risks and uncertainties discussed in this and our other filings with the SEC. Only after successful completion of our Phase 2 Pilot Plant demonstration will LIS Technologies be able to make realistic economic predictions for a Commercial Facility. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release. These factors may not constitute all factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in any forward-looking statement. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release, except as required by in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Mayor
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Business Mayor
Exclusive look at the making of High NA, ASML's new $400 million chipmaking colossus
Behind highly secured doors in a giant lab in the Netherlands, there's a machine that's transforming how microchips are made. ASML spent nearly a decade developing High NA, which stands for high numerical aperture. With a price tag of more than $400 million, it's the world's most advanced and expensive chipmaking machine. CNBC went to the Netherlands for a tour of the lab in April. Before that, High NA had never been filmed, even by ASML's own team. Inside the lab, High NA qualification team lead Assia Haddou gave CNBC an exclusive, up-close look at the High NA machines, which she said are 'bigger than a double-decker bus.' The machine is made up of four modules, manufactured in Connecticut, California, Germany and the Netherlands, then assembled in the Veldhoven, Netherlands, lab for testing and approval, before being disassembled again to ship out. Haddou said it takes seven partially loaded Boeing 747s, or at least 25 trucks, to get one system to a customer. The world's first commercial installation of High NA happened at Intel 's Oregon chip fabrication plant, or fab, in 2024. Only five of the colossal machines have ever been shipped. They're now being ramped up to make millions of chips on the factory floors of the few companies that can afford them: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. , Samsung and Intel. High NA is the latest generation of ASML's Extreme Ultraviolet, or EUV, machines. ASML is the exclusive maker of EUV, the only lithography devices in the world capable of projecting the smallest blueprints that make up the most advanced microchips. Chip designs from giants like Nvidia , Apple and AMD can't be manufactured without EUV. ASML told CNBC that High NA will eventually be used by all its EUV customers. That includes other advanced chipmakers like Micron , SK Hynix and Rapidus. 'This company has that market completely cornered,' said Daniel Newman of The Futurum Group. High NA chipmaking machine in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on April 24, 2025. Magdalena Petrova CNBC asked CEO Christophe Fouquet what's stopping ASML from setting the price of its machines even higher. He explained that as machines advance, they make it cheaper to produce the chips themselves. 'Moore's law says that we need to continue to drive costs down,' Fouquet said. 'There is a belief that if you drive costs down, you create more opportunity, so we need to be part of this game.' Two major customers have confirmed that High NA has shown big improvements over ASML's previous EUV machines. At a conference in February, Intel said it had used High NA to make about 30,000 wafers so far, and that the machine was about twice as reliable as its predecessors. At that same conference, Samsung said High NA could reduce its cycle time by 60%, meaning its chips can complete more operations per second. Read More Silicon Valley Bank: Biden says US banking system is safe 'A very risky investment' High NA can drive chip prices down because of these improvements in speed and performance. High NA also improves yield, meaning more of the chips on each wafer are usable. That's because it can project chip designs at a higher resolution. High NA uses the same process as EUV machines but with a larger lens opening that allows for projection of smaller chip design in fewer steps. 'High NA means two things. First and foremost, shrink. So there's more devices on a single wafer,' said Jos Benschop, ASML's executive vice president of technology. 'Secondly, by avoiding multiple patterning, you can make them faster and you can make them with higher yield.' Benschop joined ASML in 1997, two years after it became a publicly traded company. Benschop then helped drive the decision to go all in on EUV. The technology took more than 20 years to develop. ASML executive VP of technology Jos Benschop gave CNBC's Katie Tarasov a look at High NA chipmaking in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on April 24, 2025. Magdalena Petrova 'We barely made it. I think sometimes people forget that,' Fouquet said. 'It's been a very risky investment because when we started, there was no guarantee the technology would work.' By 2018, ASML proved the viability of EUV and major chipmakers started placing big orders for the machines. The idea, which seemed impossible to many two decades ago, was to create large amounts of tiny rays of extreme ultraviolet light, projecting it through masks with increasingly small chip designs, onto wafers of silicon treated with photoresist chemicals. To create the EUV light, ASML shoots molten tin out of a nozzle at 50,000 droplets per second, shooting each drop with a powerful laser that creates a plasma that's hotter than the sun. Those tiny explosions are what emit photons of the EUV light, with a wavelength of just 13.5 nanometers. About the width of five DNA strands, EUV is so small that it's absorbed by all known substances, so the whole process has to happen in a vacuum. The EUV light bounces off mirrors that aim it through a lens, much like how a camera works. To solve for EUV getting absorbed by mirrors, German optics company Zeiss made specific mirrors just for ASML that are the flattest manmade surfaces in the world. ASML's older generation DUV machines use less precise rays of deep ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 193 nanometers. ASML still makes the machines — competing against Nikon and Canon in Japan on DUV — but it is the only company in the world that's succeeded at EUV lithography. Read More New UK WhatsApp 'block' alert issued to millions and ignoring it could cost you The Dutch company began developing the $400 million High NA machines around 2016. High NA machines work the same as DUV, with the same EUV light source. But there's one key difference. High NA stands for high numerical aperture – meaning it has a larger lens opening, increasing the angle at which the light is captured by the mirrors. More light coming in from steeper angles allows High NA machines to transfer increasingly small designs onto the wafer in one step. By comparison, lower NA machines require multiple projections of EUV light, through multiple masks. 'When the number increases, it gets very complex process-wise and the yield goes down,' Fouquet said. Resolution improves as NA increases, bringing down the need for multiple masks and exposures, saving time and money. The cost of the High NA machine, however, goes up. 'The bigger the mirror you have to use and therefore the bigger the system,' Fouquet said. These machines also take up a huge amount of power. 'If we don't improve the power efficiency of our AI chips over time, the training of the models could consume the entire worldwide energy and that could happen around 2035,' Fouquet said. That's why ASML has reduced the power needed per wafer exposure by more than 60% since 2018, he said. ASML's Assia Haddou shows CNBC's Katie Tarasov a High NA chipmaking machine in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on April 24, 2025. Magdalena Petrova
CNBC
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- CNBC
Exclusive look at the making of High NA, ASML's new $400 million chipmaking colossus
Behind highly secured doors in a giant lab in the Netherlands, there's a machine that's transforming how microchips are made. ASML spent nearly a decade developing High NA, which stands for high numerical aperture. With a price tag of more than $400 million, it's the world's most advanced and expensive chipmaking machine. CNBC went to the Netherlands for a tour of the lab in April. Before that, High NA had never been filmed, even by ASML's own team. Inside the lab, High NA qualification team lead Assia Haddou gave CNBC an exclusive, up-close look at the High NA machines, which she said are "bigger than a double-decker bus." The machine is made up of four modules, manufactured in Connecticut, California, Germany and the Netherlands, then assembled in the Veldhoven, Netherlands, lab for testing and approval, before being disassembled again to ship out. Haddou said it takes seven partially loaded Boeing 747s, or at least 25 trucks, to get one system to a customer. The world's first commercial installation of High NA happened at Intel's Oregon chip fabrication plant, or fab, in 2024. Only five of the colossal machines have ever been shipped. They're now being ramped up to make millions of chips on the factory floors of the few companies that can afford them: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung and Intel. High NA is the latest generation of ASML's Extreme Ultraviolet, or EUV, machines. ASML is the exclusive maker of EUV, the only lithography devices in the world capable of projecting the smallest blueprints that make up the most advanced microchips. Chip designs from giants like Nvidia, Apple and AMD can't be manufactured without EUV. ASML told CNBC that High NA will eventually be used by all its EUV customers. That includes other advanced chipmakers like Micron, SK Hynix and Rapidus. "This company has that market completely cornered," said Daniel Newman of The Futurum Group. CNBC asked CEO Christophe Fouquet what's stopping ASML from setting the price of its machines even higher. He explained that as machines advance, they make it cheaper to produce the chips themselves. "Moore's law says that we need to continue to drive costs down," Fouquet said. "There is a belief that if you drive costs down, you create more opportunity, so we need to be part of this game." Two major customers have confirmed that High NA has shown big improvements over ASML's previous EUV machines. At a conference in February, Intel said it had used High NA to make about 30,000 wafers so far, and that the machine was about twice as reliable as its predecessors. At that same conference, Samsung said High NA could reduce its cycle time by 60%, meaning its chips can complete more operations per second. High NA can drive chip prices down because of these improvements in speed and performance. High NA also improves yield, meaning more of the chips on each wafer are usable. That's because it can project chip designs at a higher resolution. High NA uses the same process as EUV machines but with a larger lens opening that allows for projection of smaller chip design in fewer steps. "High NA means two things. First and foremost, shrink. So there's more devices on a single wafer," said Jos Benschop, ASML's executive vice president of technology. "Secondly, by avoiding multiple patterning, you can make them faster and you can make them with higher yield." Benschop joined ASML in 1997, two years after it became a publicly traded company. Benschop then helped drive the decision to go all in on EUV. The technology took more than 20 years to develop. "We barely made it. I think sometimes people forget that," Fouquet said. "It's been a very risky investment because when we started, there was no guarantee the technology would work." By 2018, ASML proved the viability of EUV and major chipmakers started placing big orders for the machines. The idea, which seemed impossible to many two decades ago, was to create large amounts of tiny rays of extreme ultraviolet light, projecting it through masks with increasingly small chip designs, onto wafers of silicon treated with photoresist chemicals. To create the EUV light, ASML shoots molten tin out of a nozzle at 50,000 droplets per second, shooting each drop with a powerful laser that creates a plasma that's hotter than the sun. Those tiny explosions are what emit photons of the EUV light, with a wavelength of just 13.5 nanometers. About the width of five DNA strands, EUV is so small that it's absorbed by all known substances, so the whole process has to happen in a vacuum. The EUV light bounces off mirrors that aim it through a lens, much like how a camera works. To solve for EUV getting absorbed by mirrors, German optics company Zeiss made specific mirrors just for ASML that are the flattest manmade surfaces in the world. ASML's older generation DUV machines use less precise rays of deep ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 193 nanometers. ASML still makes the machines — competing against Nikon and Canon in Japan on DUV — but it is the only company in the world that's succeeded at EUV lithography. The Dutch company began developing the $400 million High NA machines around 2016. High NA machines work the same as DUV, with the same EUV light source. But there's one key difference. High NA stands for high numerical aperture – meaning it has a larger lens opening, increasing the angle at which the light is captured by the mirrors. More light coming in from steeper angles allows High NA machines to transfer increasingly small designs onto the wafer in one step. By comparison, lower NA machines require multiple projections of EUV light, through multiple masks. "When the number increases, it gets very complex process-wise and the yield goes down," Fouquet said. Resolution improves as NA increases, bringing down the need for multiple masks and exposures, saving time and money. The cost of the High NA machine, however, goes up. "The bigger the mirror you have to use and therefore the bigger the system," Fouquet said. These machines also take up a huge amount of power. "If we don't improve the power efficiency of our AI chips over time, the training of the models could consume the entire worldwide energy and that could happen around 2035," Fouquet said. That's why ASML has reduced the power needed per wafer exposure by more than 60% since 2018, he said. ASML is known for its groundbreaking EUV machines, but its older DUV machines still made up 60% of business in 2024. ASML sold 44 EUV machines last year, with a price tag starting at $220 million. DUV machines are far cheaper, ranging from $5 million to $90 million, but ASML sold 374 of the legacy machines in 2024. China is a major buyer of those DUV systems, making up 49% of ASML's business in the second quarter of 2024. Fouquet told CNBC this peak in sales to China came because of a "huge backlog" in orders that ASML wasn't able to fill until last year. He said business in China should be back to the "historical normal" of between 20% and 25% in 2025. U.S. export controls prevent ASML from selling EUV to China. It's a ban that started under the first Trump administration. Newman of The Futurum Group said it's a "real long shot" that China could develop its own EUV machines, instead making devices like smartphones using the most advanced chips possible with DUV. U.S. concern over advanced tech making its way to China has accelerated amid the generative artificial intelligence race. That boom has also sent chip stocks soaring, including ASML's, which hit an all-time high in July. ASML's share price has declined more than 30% since, as the chip industry faces key uncertainties such as President Donald Trump's tariffs. Benschop told CNBC that ASML simply doesn't know how tariffs will impact the company. With about 800 global suppliers, tariff implications for ASML are complex. Making a single High NA machine requires many steps of imports and exports. The machine's four modules are made in the U.S., Netherlands and Germany, then they're shipped to the Netherlands for assembly and testing, where they're disassembled again for shipment to chip fabs in places like the U.S. or Asia. For years, Asia has made up more than 80% of ASML's business. The U.S. share sat around 17% in 2024 but is growing fast. ASML has 44,000 employees globally, and 8,500 of them are based in the U.S. across 18 offices. Many of ASML's 2024 High NA shipments went to Intel, which is building new fabs in Ohio and Arizona. The U.S.-based chipmaker has struggled in recent years, but Fouquet said Intel remains a "formidable partner" for ASML and that it's "very critical" for U.S. semiconductor independence. Taiwan-based TSMC is far ahead of Intel in advancing chip nodes. CNBC recently visited TSMC's new fab north of Phoenix, which is now in volume production. As the most advanced chip fab on U.S. soil, the need for High NA there will likely come soon. ASML, meanwhile, is building its first U.S. training center in Arizona. Fouquet told CNBC it will open in the "next few months" with a goal of training 1,200 people on EUV and DUV each year. It's "a capacity that will not only meet what is needed in the U.S., but will be used also to train even more people worldwide," he said. The Dutch company plans to further increase the numerical aperture on its next machine, Hyper NA. Fouquet told CNBC that ASML has some draft optical designs for this next machine, and that, "it's not necessarily a difficult product." He expects the need for Hyper NA to come "between 2032 and 2035." He wouldn't speculate on price. For now, ASML is focused on meeting demand for High NA. It plans to ship at least five more systems this year and ramping to a production capacity of 20 machines in a few years. Watch the video to see High NA in action:
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Breakthrough EUV Dry Photoresist Technology from Lam Research Adopted by Leading Memory Manufacturer
Aether® Advanced Patterning Solutions Enhance Precision and Cost Efficiency to Accelerate Production of Next-Generation DRAM FREMONT, Calif., Jan. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Lam Research Corporation (Nasdaq: LRCX) today announced that Aether®, its innovative dry photoresist technology, has been selected by a leading memory manufacturer as production tool of record for the most advanced DRAM processes. A breakthrough introduced by Lam in 2020, dry resist extends the resolution, productivity, and yield of Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, a pivotal technology used in the production of next-generation semiconductor devices. "Lam's dry resist approach overcomes the biggest challenges of transferring fine DRAM designs to a wafer, delivering low-defect, high fidelity precision, while also offering key advantages in cost and sustainability," said Vahid Vahedi, chief technology and sustainability officer at Lam Research. "We are proud to collaborate with industry leaders to accelerate this DRAM patterning innovation into high-volume manufacturing." The memory manufacturer will employ the Aether® tools in its most advanced DRAM nodes to form dry resist underlayers and films, and to use dry development processes. These processes overcome the traditional tradeoff between exposure dose and manufacturing defectivity to enable precise, low-defect patterning. This advancement drives down costs and enhances scanner productivity in the manufacturing of next-generation semiconductor devices. Energy and compute intensive applications require continued scaling of memory capacity in an ever-smaller footprint to enable lower cost per bit of data. A key enabler of this scaling is industry-wide adoption of EUV lithography. Lam's dry photoresist technologies optimize the patterning process from resist application and stack deposition through final etching and cleaning, offering several advantages over conventional chemically amplified resist patterning. Aether® significantly enhances EUV sensitivity and the resolution of each wafer pass, enabling the most challenging patterns to better adhere to the wafer and improving performance and yield. In addition, it offers key sustainability benefits by consuming less energy and five to ten times less chemicals than traditional wet chemical resist processes. About Lam ResearchLam Research Corporation is a global supplier of innovative wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. Lam's equipment and services allow customers to build smaller and better performing devices. In fact, today, nearly every advanced chip is built with Lam technology. We combine superior systems engineering, technology leadership, and a strong values-based culture, with an unwavering commitment to our customers. Lam Research (Nasdaq: LRCX) is a FORTUNE 500® company headquartered in Fremont, Calif., with operations around the globe. Learn more at Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Statements made in this press release that are not of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate to, but are not limited to: industry and market trends and expectations; customer adoption and usage of Lam products; and product performance, including technical, cost and sustainability benefits. Some factors that may affect these forward-looking statements include: the actions of our customers and competitors may be inconsistent with our expectations; business, political and/or regulatory conditions in the consumer electronics industry, the semiconductor industry and the overall economy may deteriorate or change; trade regulations, export controls, trade disputes, and other geopolitical tensions may inhibit our ability to sell our products; supply chain cost increases and other inflationary pressures have impacted and may continue to impact our profitability; supply chain disruptions or manufacturing capacity constraints may limit our ability to manufacture and sell our products; and natural and human-caused disasters, disease outbreaks, war, terrorism, political or governmental unrest or instability, or other events beyond our control may impact our operations and revenue in affected areas; as well as the other risks and uncertainties that are described in the documents filed or furnished by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including specifically the Risk Factors described in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024 and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 29, 2024. These uncertainties and changes could materially affect the forward-looking statements and cause actual results to vary from expectations in a material way. The Company undertakes no obligation to update the information or statements made in this release. Company Contacts: Allison L. ParkerMedia Relations (510) 572-9324 publicrelations@ Ram Ganesh Investor Relations (510) 572-1615 Source: Lam Research Corporation, (Nasdaq: LRCX) View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Lam Research Corporation
