ASML: The Undisputed Leader of Photolithography Systems
After reading the above for the first time one may feel confused about, what is ASML or what is photolithography systems, and why you should know about it. Well to answer all these questions let's go through some details. ASML is a Dutch company, which was founded in 1984 as a joint venture between the Dutch companies Advanced Semiconductor Materials International (ASMI) and Philips. ASML’s headquarters is located in Veldhoven, Netherlands. ASML is the leading supplier of photolithography systems in the world. ASML contributes to every 3 out of 4 sales of lithography machines worldwide and the competition consists of ultratech steppers, Canon, and Nikon.
Now to answer the second question that what exactly is photolithography systems. Well, as you know that almost every electronic device has a chip, a computer chip in it. To produce such computer chips advanced machines are needed. Photolithography machines are used in the production of these computer chips. In these machines, patterns are optically imaged onto a silicon wafer that is covered with a film of light-sensitive material (photoresist). This procedure is repeated dozens of times on a single wafer. They even provide different kinds of lithography machines such as Immersion and EUV. They have also started to manufacture imprint lithography machines that use Nanotechnology. ASML continues to research and develop these machines to manufacture state-of-art machines and to give themselves an edge over their competitors. They sell these machines to almost every company in the semiconductor industry. As of 2018, the ASML’s revenue was €10.944 billion.
ASML has a worldwide customer base and over sixty service points in sixteen countries. The company is listed on both the AEX and NASDAQ Stock Exchanges, as ASML. ASML has long-term and close collaboration with chipmakers, research partners, and strategic suppliers such as ZEISS and TRUMPF. In July 2012, Intel announced a deal to invest $4.1 billion into ASML in exchange for 15% ownership, in order to speed up the transition from 300 mm to 450mm wafers and further development of EUV lithography. In June 2016, ASML announced its plans to acquire Taiwan-based Hermes Microvision Inc. for about $3.1 billion to add technology for creating smaller and more advanced semiconductors. These advanced semiconductors are supposed to be the next generation of semiconductors and the need for them is rising as new technological feats are achieved.
During the 2020 edition of the microelectronics conference SEMICON West, ASML received the SEMI Americas Award for its collaborative approach to extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV), helping it become commercially viable, and opening the doors to new technological possibilities. ASML earned 5 VLSI starts for the third consecutive year and topped the list of best suppliers with respect to customer satisfaction. No doubt ASML is the undisputed leader of Lithography Systems.
