AI hardware · Layer

Lithography and fab equipment

The machines that pattern circuits onto silicon. Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is required for the most advanced nodes, and the tools come from a tiny set of suppliers.

Key facts

ASML in the Netherlands is the sole maker of EUV lithography systems, the machines needed for leading-edge chips.
An EUV scanner costs well over a hundred million dollars and is one of the most complex machines ever built.
Other critical equipment makers include Applied Materials, Lam Research, KLA, and Tokyo Electron.
Because EUV has a single supplier, it is a strategic chokepoint and a focus of export controls.

Where it bottlenecks

EUV is a single-supplier dependency (ASML); the broader equipment market is concentrated among a few firms and subject to export restrictions.

Who dominates it

ASMLApplied MaterialsLam ResearchTokyo Electron

Companies in this layer

ASML

Netherlands

Sole maker of EUV lithography machines required to fabricate leading-edge chips.

Carl Zeiss SMT

Germany

Maker of the precision optics inside EUV lithography systems.

All companies across the chain

Explore other layers

GPUs and AI accelerators High-bandwidth memory (HBM)Chip foundries and fabrication Advanced packaging Networking and interconnect AI servers and systems Data centers Cooling and thermal management Supply constraints and bottlenecks

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