What Does ASML Make, and Why Is Its EUV Technology So Hard to Replicate?

ASML makes equipment and software used to manufacture semiconductors; it does not make chips. It is best known for lithography scanners, including extreme ultraviolet (EUV) systems that use 13.5-nanometer light to print some of the most intricate patterns on a chip. Reproducing EUV is difficult not because of one secret component, but because its light source, optics, precision stages, controls, software, suppliers and factory processes must all work together reliably at production speed.

What ASML makes

ASML’s core business is lithography: systems that transfer circuit patterns onto silicon wafers during chip manufacturing. Its broader portfolio also includes measurement and inspection tools, computational lithography software, services and upgrades, and an advanced-packaging product, according to its 2025 annual report.

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Lithography scanners

A scanner projects a pattern from a mask, also called a reticle, onto a wafer coated with light-sensitive resist. The exposed resist is then processed as part of a larger sequence of manufacturing steps. The scanner is a crucial tool, but it does not produce a finished chip on its own.

ASML sells both deep ultraviolet (DUV) and EUV lithography systems. DUV systems make the majority of chip layers; EUV is used for some of the most intricate, critical layers. They are complementary technologies, not an either-or choice. EUV can reduce the need for complex multiple patterning with DUV on certain layers, but it does not replace DUV throughout a chip or eliminate the rest of the fabrication flow. ASML describes this division in its product portfolio report.

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Tools and services around the scanner

Measurements and inspection help manufacturers assess patterns and process results. Computational lithography software helps work out how to print intended patterns under real optical and manufacturing constraints. Service and upgrades support tools in customers’ fabs. These offerings matter because a scanner’s performance is part of a production process, not an isolated specification.

How EUV lithography works

Making the light

ASML’s EUV systems use light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers, as described in its light and lasers explainer. The source starts with tiny droplets of molten tin. Laser pulses strike the droplets and create plasma, which emits EUV light. ASML says its latest commercial sources repeat this process 60,000 times per second in its 2025 annual-report technology discussion. That figure describes the latest commercial sources, not necessarily every EUV system or every operating condition.

Reflecting and shaping the beam

EUV light is absorbed by almost all materials, so ordinary lenses cannot guide it through the scanner. Instead, the light travels through a vacuum and is directed by reflective optics. The mirrors use carefully engineered multilayer coatings; ASML says its EUV mirror system has more than 100 layers. The layers and surfaces must be made and aligned with exceptional precision. See ASML’s explanations of lenses and mirrors and its 2025 technology discussion.

Printing patterns consistently

The scanner coordinates the patterned mask and wafer as the exposure takes place. Stages, alignment, focus, imaging control and thermal compensation all affect whether the intended pattern lands in the right place and remains consistent. Repeated exposures generate heat that can distort optical components; actuators and control systems help compensate for those effects. The machine’s usable performance therefore depends on much more than how bright its light source is.

Why an EUV system is so hard to replicate

The source must work as an industrial system

Producing EUV through laser-generated tin plasma is only the starting point. A source must generate enough light, steadily and reliably, while its droplets, laser pulses and operating environment remain controlled. ASML’s account of its development illustrates the long progression: it describes a one-watt prototype in 2010, a 250-watt source in 2018 and a 500-watt prototype in 2022. In April 2025, it reported demonstrating a 1,000-watt source, but explicitly said a commercial 1,000-watt source would take some time. That demonstration is a milestone, not a commercial product specification. These figures and qualifications come from ASML’s 2025 annual-report technology discussion.

Mirrors, vacuum and heat control have to work together

Because EUV is absorbed by ordinary materials, an alternative system would need a vacuum-compatible optical path and exceptionally precise reflective optics rather than a conventional lens train. Mirror coatings, surface quality, alignment and thermal stability all affect the image reaching the wafer. ASML identifies ZEISS as its strategic partner for projection optics in its 2025 annual-report discussion; that partnership is one example of the specialized expertise involved, not proof that no other organization could ever build a competing system.

Motion and control determine whether resolution becomes production

High-resolution imaging is useful only if the tool can position and align the mask and wafer accurately, hold focus, compensate for disturbances and do so repeatedly at a commercially useful rate. ASML’s product report attributes improvements across systems to the light source, wafer handler, stages, imaging control and projection optics together. The performance is an integrated result: a strong source cannot make up for a weakness elsewhere in the scanner.

Factories need reliable output, not just a demonstration

A chipmaker needs repeatable exposures, uptime, throughput, overlay accuracy, suitable masks and resist, and a process that delivers acceptable yield. Equipment also needs to be manufactured, qualified, installed, serviced and improved over time. That requires specialized suppliers and coordination between components. A laboratory result or a high source-power number alone does not establish that a complete scanner can meet those production demands.

What ASML’s published EUV figures do—and do not—show

The following figures are from ASML’s 2025 annual report or current technical explainer; they describe different things and should not be treated as interchangeable measures of capability.

ASML said in its 2025 annual report that it expected the EXE platform to start supporting high-volume manufacturing in 2027. That is a company forecast made in that report, not a guarantee that the date or production ramp will occur as expected. The same report describes the platform’s specifications and shipment context here.

The practical answer

ASML makes lithography scanners and the related software, measurement, inspection, service and upgrade products used in semiconductor manufacturing. EUV is exceptionally hard to reproduce because it combines an industrial plasma light source with reflective optics in vacuum, precisely controlled motion, imaging and thermal compensation, and the manufacturing and supplier capability to deliver reliable high-volume operation. The challenge is reproducing the complete production system—not merely building one powerful light source.

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