ASML은 더 큰 AI 프로세서 설계를 위해 최적화된 새로운 세대의 칩 제조 도구를 개발하고 있다.

Dutch chip equipment maker ASML is planning to develop a new generation of manufacturing tools capable of producing larger, more complex processors for AI data centres, working closely with its biggest customers.

ASML's current extreme ultraviolet lithography machines can print chips up to approximately 800 square millimetres—a limit that chip designers including Nvidia and Google are already reaching. While the company's next-generation "High NA" EUV tools can create finer features, their smaller mask size constrains the maximum chip area they can produce.

To overcome this constraint, ASML is transitioning to a larger mask size. This upgrade will allow its newest machines to manufacture chips as large as today's biggest data centre processors. The company plans to demonstrate a pilot production line using the larger masks by 2031, with full high-volume production targeted for 2033.

"If we're going to pull it off as an industry, then you'll actually see that the productivity of those systems will go up by 40%," said Marco Pieters, ASML's chief technology officer.

Intel has already begun using High NA tools for laptop chip production, but Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Samsung have not yet adopted them for high-volume manufacturing. TSMC announced this week that it plans to incorporate High NA technology into advanced high-volume production starting in 2030. Samsung aims to introduce High NA EUV into DRAM memory chip production by 2028, while SK Hynix is also evaluating participation in the programme with a target of 2028 for mass-production application.