Semiconductor Equipment - Berenberg Bank

ASML Holding NV
Technology Hardware
EUV drives ASML’s future success
EUV is the key enabler of Moore’s law, and ASML holds 100%
market share
Semiconductor manufacturing is driven by Moore’s law, which states that the
number of transistors on an affordable chip will double every two years. As chipmakers
start to print 20nm chips, and subsequently 10nm, 7nm and 5nm chips, the
EUV solution is both cheaper and simpler than ArFi solutions. ASML’s coinvestment
programme demonstrated the commitment from Intel, Samsung and
TSMC to this technology, and ASML is recognised as technology leader in this
field.
The DP/multi-patterning (MP) process using ArFi tools (which exposes the wafer
twice instead of once in order to reduce the printed feature size) is now the
mainstream solution for printing 20nm chips. However, manufacturers claim that
this process is too costly because it increases the number of lithography exposures
per wafer, meaning that they must either reduce output or buy more tools. EUV
enables chip-makers to expose the critical layer in just one exposure instead of two.
In terms of total cost per wafer (see Figure 5 below), EUV delivers cost savings of
34% compared with ArFi’s DP process, even if EUV tools cost twice as much to
buy.
Figure 5: EUV solutions deliver a cost benefit
by ArFi
by EUV
Overall patterning cost
(incl litho, etching, etc)
€70.82/wafer
€46.44/wafer
Litho cost
€23.36/wafer
€31.74/wafer
2*ArFi exposures/layer 1*EUV exposure/layer
Litho cost/total cost 33% 68%
Source: ASML data
Apart from the cost savings, EUV simplifies the fabrication process by halving the
steps and cycle time required in DP (see Figure 6 below). Chip-makers are likely to
allocate more “critical layers” – the layers on a chip that require the highest
resolution and precision to EUV from ArFi. Logic/foundries players are likely to
pick up EUV first to meet the demand for small chip designs from for consumer
electronics devices, and because it is more expensive for them to use DP
compared to memory players.
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