ASML's EUV lithography systems expose chip patterns with light at a 13.5-nanometer wavelength, generated by vaporizing 25-micron tin droplets 50,000 times per second into a plasma about 40 times hotter than the sun's surface. Because that light is absorbed by conventional glass, ASML's systems route it through multilayer mirrors that reflect roughly 70% of the radiation, per NIST, and the resulting TWINSCAN NXE:3600D tool now supports volume production at the 5 and 3 nanometer logic nodes.
What Is EUV Lithography, and Why Does It Use a 13.5-Nanometer Wavelength?
ASML's EUV lithography process exposes chip circuit patterns using light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometersCITE:E1. This wavelength sits deep in the extreme ultraviolet range, far shorter than the light used in prior generations of chipmaking lithography, and it is the defining physical parameter around which ASML built its EUV systemsCITE:E1.
How Do Tin Droplets and Laser-Produced Plasma Generate EUV Light?
ASML generates 13.5-nanometer light by repeatedly vaporizing microscopic tin droplets with a laser to create an extremely hot plasmaCITE:E4. A generator ejects molten tin droplets roughly 25 microns in diameter at a speed of 70 meters per secondCITE:E2. This droplet-ejection and vaporization cycle repeats 50,000 times every secondCITE:E3. In designing the laser-produced plasma (LPP) source, ASML strikes each tin droplet twice, at a rate of 50,000 times per second, to vaporize it and create a plasma about 40 times hotter than the surface of the sun, which then emits EUV lightCITE:E4.
| Parameter | Value | Source |
|---|
| Tin droplet diameter | ~25 microns | ASMLCITE:E2 |
| Droplet ejection speed | 70 meters/second | ASMLCITE:E2 |
| Vaporization repetition rate | 50,000 times/second | ASMLCITE:E3 |
| Plasma temperature | ~40x the sun's surface temperature | ASMLCITE:E4 |
Why Can't EUV Lithography Use Ordinary Lenses? How Do Multilayer Mirrors Work?
EUV light at 13.5 nanometers is absorbed by conventional glass lenses, so ASML's projection optics rely on multilayered mirrors instead, according to NISTCITE:E6. These multilayer-coated mirrors are capable of reflecting about 70% of EUV radiation at near-normal incidence, per NIST's analysis of EUV lithography opticsCITE:E6. This reflective architecture is a direct engineering consequence of the 13.5-nanometer wavelength ASML's systems are built aroundCITE:E1CITE:E6.
How Is EUV Lithography Applied to 5-Nanometer and 3-Nanometer Chip Production?
ASML's TWINSCAN NXE:3600D system supports EUV volume production at the 5-nanometer and 3-nanometer logic nodes as well as leading-edge DRAM nodesCITE:E5. This system represents the production-scale endpoint of the light source and optics chain ASML describes: tin droplets vaporized 50,000 times per second into an ultra-hot plasma, with the resulting EUV light directed through multilayer mirrors reflecting about 70% of the radiation, ultimately exposing circuit patterns at the 13.5-nanometer wavelength on wafers processed at the 5nm and 3nm nodesCITE:E1CITE:E3CITE:E4CITE:E6CITE:E5.
What this means: the numbers ASML and NIST report describe a single continuous chain — a 13.5-nanometer light source built from tin droplets vaporized 50,000 times per second into a plasma 40 times hotter than the sun, redirected by mirrors that reflect about 70% of that radiation because ordinary lenses cannot transmit it, and delivered in a system, the TWINSCAN NXE:3600D, that ASML states is already used for volume production at the 5nm and 3nm logic nodesCITE:E1CITE:E2CITE:E3CITE:E4CITE:E6CITE:E5.