China builds crude EUV prototype, advances semiconductor capabilities

China has assembled a prototype extreme ultraviolet lithography machine capable of generating 13.5nm EUV light, the specific wavelength required to etch the world’s most advanced semiconductors. The machine, completed in early 2025 at a facility in Shenzhen, has not yet produced a single working chip. The machine and the people who built it EUV lithography is the most complex manufacturing technology humans have ever commercialized. Dutch company ASML is the sole supplier of production-grade EUV machines, which cost roughly $250M each and are essential for fabricating chips at sub-5nm process nodes. China’s prototype was developed in part through reverse engineering older ASML technology. The team reportedly includes former ASML engineers who were recruited with signing bonuses ranging from $420K to $700K, with secrecy provisions attached. Among the notable recruits is Lin Nan, who previously led ASML’s light source division and now works at the Shanghai Institute of Optics. What “crude” actually means here Generating EUV light is a necessary but wildly insufficient condition for making chips. The process involves firing a high-powered laser at tiny droplets of molten tin, which cr...