ASML Ships Record-Breaking 8nm EUV Lithography Systems to Intel and SK Hynix to Meet AI's 'Monumental' Chip Demand

ASML has shipped approximately ten next-generation extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines costing $400 million each to customers including Intel and SK Hynix, featuring optics capable of creating structures just 8 nanometers wide — thought to be the smallest ever made in a single step by a commercial chip-patterning system.

The breakthrough systems, described at the SPIE Advanced Lithography conference in San Jose in February, could produce computer chips with 2.9 times more transistors than those made with the previous EUV generation, directly addressing the "monumental" demand for chips driven by the AI boom.

The new machines use higher numerical aperture optics that emit light over a broader range of angles, resulting in better image contrast and higher resolution. This allows chipmakers to pack higher transistor densities onto chips of the same area, enabling AI data centers to run more computations without consuming more electricity.

"The demands we see are monumental in the number of chips that are needed and the scaling that is needed," said Maarten Voncken, ASML's head of research metrology.

The advancement pushes Moore's Law forward at a critical moment. Current high-performance chips used in mobile phones and AI data centers already require nearly atomic-scale precision, and the AI revolution has created unprecedented demand for ever-faster chips. Intel and SK Hynix will use the machines to create their next-generation processors.