WWK: ASML Pauses 450 mm Development
Customer demand for 450 mm lithography systems is not currently high so ASML will not concentrate on developing this technology at the moment
As one can imagine, the reports of ASML killing 450 mm development raised a lot of interest.
WWK, a firm which provides decision tools for productivity and cost management, says it has received clarification directly from an authorised spokesperson for ASML.
The comment below captures and clarifies a few key points, namely that the customer (chipmakers) call the shots and ASML responds to customer demand on 450 mm, and that ASML's 450 mm program is paused and not killed.
The spokesperson said that ASML has decided to pause the development of 450 mm lithography systems until customer demand and the timing related to such demand is clear.
Once clear, ASML will be ready to accelerate development and continue with the progress already made in 450 mm wafer size-specific development work so that systems will be available when the industry requires them.
They also said that since 450 mm requires both generic developments and wafer size-specific developments, a substantial amount of development work in the 450 mm project is highly relevant for future DUV and EUV platforms.
So ASML will continue the generic improvements needed for future product nodes and implement these on its 300 mm platforms.
