Intel Foundry reaches High-NA EUV wafer milestone

Intel Foundry has processed one million 300 mm silicon wafers using High Numerical Aperture Extreme Ultraviolet lithography, marking a key step in its deployment of High-NA EUV manufacturing. Intel initially installed ASML’s TWINSCAN EXE:5000 High-NA EUV systems in 2024 for research and testing tied to the 14A node, but has since broadened the technology’s role beyond that original plan.

High-NA exposure is now being used for a few silicon layers in a select subset of ‘Panther Lake’ SKUs, rather than relying only on Low-NA tools. Intel has also extended the setup to the 18A node, despite earlier expectations that High-NA work would be limited to 14A, and is making the capability available to external foundry customers.

Intel and ASML have completed acceptance testing at Intel Foundry for the 14A node using TWINSCAN EXE:5200B, ASML’s second High-NA EUV scanner generation after TWINSCAN EXE:5000. Intel previously reported processing over 30,000 wafers in a single quarter and said the technology reduced the steps required for a specific layer from 40 to fewer than 10, improving cycle times.