2 months ago
- Intel has started high-volume manufacturing of High-NA EUV for its Panther Lake notebook processors (Core Ultra Series 3) on Intel 18A.
- High-NA EUV uses a 0.55 numerical aperture, improving resolution and reducing the need for multi-patterning, but at a higher cost and smaller field size.
- Intel is using High-NA on 18A as a learning step for future nodes like 14A and 10A, where the technology becomes more necessary.
- The cost of a single High-NA exposure is about 2.5 times that of Low-NA, but it can be cheaper for complex patterns requiring three or more masks.
- ASML is building 12-15 High-NA systems per year, with orders from Intel, SK hynix, Samsung, and IBM.
- The production EXE:5200B scanner achieves approximately 175 wafers per hour with improved overlay, reducing stitching overhead.
- Panther Lake layers are dual-qualified on both Low-NA and High-NA, ensuring yield parity, and the chips will be sold as standard products without special SKU differentiation.