Applied Materials announces new chip tool to streamline lithography process

© Pavlo Gonchar / SOPA Images/Sipa via Reuters Connect

By Sam Boughedda

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) unveiled a new chip manufacturing tool on Tuesday specifically designed that can lower the lithography process cost.

The new eBeam metrology system measures the critical dimensions of semiconductor device features patterned with EUV and emerging High-NA EUV lithography.

Lithography prints a pattern on the wafer — the shiny round discs used for chip-making — using light. Applied Materials' new tool is said to reduce the time spent on lithography, which has become increasingly complex and expensive.

The company believed the new approach will help facilitate chip production while reducing waste. The company said its new system is "receiving strong commercial interest from leading logic and memory customers."

Applied Materials shares are up more than 4% at the time of writing.

"The VeritySEM 10 system is a breakthrough in CD-SEM technology that solves the metrology challenges of major technology inflections that will shape the industry in the years ahead," commented Keith Wells, Group Vice President of Imaging and Process Control at Applied Materials.

Reacting to the news and how it will impact competitor ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML), Credit Suisse analysts told investors in a note that details of how AMAT’s new tool works are currently "unclear."

"Low visibility on exact number of multiple-patterning EUV layers at ASML’s customers further makes analysis difficult," wrote the analysts. "ASML has a strong backlog and remains supply constrained in the short term. Further, we believe that ASML’s customers are unlikely to change their chip recipes in the short term and hence any impact will be more likely to come in the medium term (as opposed to in 2023 or potentially in 2024) as new chip manufacturing recipes are finalised."

The analysts added that the mid- to long-term impact will depend on the level of uptake of AMAT’s tool.

"Further, lower leading-edge manufacturing cost may drive higher uptake of leading-edge logic chips, which may also offset impact," continued the analysts.

Credit Suisse expects investor sentiment on ASML to be negatively impacted by the news flow until "clarity emerges on the exact level of impact."

ASML's New York-listed shares are down just over 1% at the time of writing.