Intel has been in the news lately thanks to its decision to buy the world's first high numerical aperture (High-NA) lithography machine from ASML in the Netherlands. So far, Intel is the only global fab to order one of these pricey machines, as they reportedly sell for around $380 million. The company has posted a video showing the hulking machine being shipped to its fab in Oregon and the subsequent unboxing. It's an interesting look behind the curtain of the semiconductor fab business while also showing how incredibly complex the machine is once unboxed.
The video shows a quick time-lapse of offloading the Twinscan EXE:5000 lithography machine through the nose of a cargo plane and then transporting it to Intel's Oregon facility. Once it's dropped off inside the building (no signature required?), we can see how it's unwrapped like a present and how the facility already has machinery to begin the assembly process. According to Tom's Hardware, the EXE:5000 ships in 250 crates and weighs a collective 330,000 pounds. The machine is expected to be fully functional in 2025, which is good as assembly will take at least six months. Once assembled, Intel will calibrate it and prepare it to start making chips.
This long and arduous assembly and testing process could be one reason Intel's competitors are keeping their powder dry with High-NA for now. Getting the machine up and running and then understanding how to make defect-free silicon wafers is a very long and disruptive process, which some analysts have said is not worth the cost and disruption to a fab's production line. However, Intel sees it as a wise investment in its future as it allows for a significant increase in wafer density. It's also assumed the entire industry will transition to High-NA eventually, so Intel will have an advantage over TSMC and Samsung if it can figure out High-NA volume production before its competitors.
Intel plans on testing its upcoming Intel 18A process on the High-NA machine just to see how it works instead of making viable chips for customers. The company has announced it intends to adopt High-NA for its 14A process (1.4nm), due in 2026, with Intel 10A, or 1nm, following in 2027. To highlight what an early adopter Intel is for this technology, it's been reported its main rival—TSMC–is not expected to adopt High-NA until it arrives at a 1nm process, which might not occur until 2027 at the earliest, with 2030 being realistic as it might not even start 2nm until 2026. After that, it should move to 1.4nm, then 1nm, with roughly three years between nodes. Samsung has announced it will also adopt High-NA, but not until 2027 when its 1.4nm process debuts.
