ASML and TSMC Advance 12-Inch Photomasks for High-NA EUV Lithography to Boost Future Chip Scaling

ASML and TSMC are leading an industry-wide initiative to transition to larger 12-inch photomasks for High Numerical Aperture (High-NA) EUV lithography, a critical step for the next generation of semiconductor manufacturing. This move, which includes plans for a pilot line by 2031 and production by 2033, is aimed at overcoming manufacturing constraints and enhancing productivity for increasingly complex AI and high-performance computing chips. Intel has already begun deploying High-NA EUV in its 18A-based Core Ultra Series 3 processors, and Samsung plans to integrate it into DRAM manufacturing by 2028.