Intel is reported to have deployed the world's first next-generation lithography tool, a high-NA (high numerical aperture) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography system, to a mass-production line and succeeded in shipping customer-bound products. The process using this tool is the 2-nanometer-class "Intel 18A." Intel is said to plan to expand use of the tool to the 1.4-nanometer-class process "14A."
By contrast, Samsung Electronics is understood to have already brought in about two of the same tools but has not been able to accelerate mass-production deployment. The industry says this is tied less to technical limits than to financial caution aimed at avoiding deeper losses from large additional investment. The analysis is that it is prioritizing maximizing efficiency with its current tools, securing customers, and turning to profit.
◇ Intel makes a bold move to expand influence in the foundry market
According to ASML on the 16th, Intel Foundry said it began volume production at its Oregon plant in the United States by applying high-NA EUV to some circuit layers of the 2-nanometer-class Intel 18A-based notebook central processing unit (CPU) "Intel Core Ultra Series 3" (codename Panther Lake). A lithography tool draws semiconductor circuits onto a wafer using light, and high-NA EUV is a new tool that focuses light more precisely than existing EUV tools, enabling much finer and denser circuits. Intel said products made with this new tool recorded a Production yield similar to those made with existing tools. Production yield refers to the ratio of chips that operate normally among produced wafers.
As semiconductor circuits become finer, the line width that can be drawn at once must narrow. Existing EUV tools face physical limits to drawing finer lines, so the industry has worked around this with "multi-patterning," which draws the same circuit in multiple passes. Because process steps increase, time and expense also rise, which is cited as a drawback of this approach. High-NA EUV raises the lens's light-gathering capability so it can draw denser circuits in one pass without such workarounds. The industry expects the need for this tool to grow as processes move to 1.4-nanometer-class and below.
The issue is that each tool costs upward of 500 billion won. For that reason, even leading corporations have applied different calculations to when to adopt it. Intel signed for the tool in 2023 as a world first and has taken the most aggressive approach, and with successful mass-production shipments this time, observers say it has entered the "real-world validation" stage. Taiwan's TSMC, the world's No. 1 foundry company, by contrast, has maintained a cautious stance of adopting the tool starting with its 1.4-nanometer process. That is because demand is already so strong that customers are lining up for the current state-of-the-art 2-nanometer process alone, leaving little reason to rush a process transition.
◇ Samsung Electronics still "watching"... "Proceed in line with demand and profitability math"
Samsung Electronics is also said to have brought in a high-NA EUV tool to its Hwaseong Campus in Gyeonggi last year, the first in Korea, followed by a second tool in the first half of this year, with the investment size reported to be in the low 1 trillion won range. In terms of the timing of securing the tools alone, there is not a big gap with Intel. However, it has not been officially confirmed whether the tools have been put on mass-production lines to produce products. It has the tools but is effectively delaying real-world deployment.
Regarding why Samsung Electronics is less enthusiastic than Intel about adopting high-NA EUV, people inside and outside Samsung first point to finances rather than technology. The Samsung Electronics foundry business unit is reported to have been in the red since 2022, and of late, some in the market have mentioned the possibility of turning a profit in the fourth quarter this year. For a unit that has run losses, rushing to fully operate expensive tools could increase fixed costs such as depreciation and operating costs. With a return to profit in sight, there is no reason to delay that point with aggressive investment.
Some say it is not yet fully ready technically. Samsung Electronics' 2-nanometer process Production yield is reported to have risen to around 55%, which is close to the industry's 60% threshold for stable mass production. A semiconductor equipment industry official said, "Looking only at yield, the process is not so unstable that the new tool cannot be used," adding, "However, a conservative stance continues to minimize capital expenditure until profitability is firmly backed by orders from major customers."
Within the Samsung Electronics DS (semiconductor) division, this year is also cited as a key inflection point for the foundry business unit to prove its technological competitiveness and profitability as an independent unit. A person familiar with Samsung said, "After Jun Young-hyun took office as head of the DS division and moved to correct prior missteps, the highest priority has been for the foundry business unit to regain the trust of overseas customers," adding, "Starting this year, shipments to major customers begin, so securing the reliability and performance of the contracted products comes first."