The Okinanwa Institute of Science and Technology seeks a patent on a newly revised extreme ultraviolet lithography machine.
With MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 application processor (AP) reportedly packed with 30 billion transistors, you might wonder how a foundry can build such a component that is so complex yet requires precision in the fabrication process. The extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machine helps by etching patterns thinner than human hair on the silicon wafer that the chip is built on.
Only one company makes these machines, Dutch firm ASML, and the second-generation EUV machines are already available. Known as High-NA, these $400 million machines help foundries build integrated circuits using a 7nm process node and lower. It obviously takes huge sums of money to open a foundry to make chips and these costs are passed on to smartphone manufacturers who then pass them on to us.
Innovative EUV devised by Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology can be a game changer in chip manufacturing
But some innovations devised by a Japanese institute could lower the costs of building these components and perhaps these lower costs can help lower smartphone prices that consumers pay. A report published by the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) reveals what some of these innovations are. One big change reduces the number of reflective mirrors to four from as many as 10.
