Advanced lithography techniques, which are required to print ultrafine features on to chips, are primary enablers of modern technology advancement. There are many different lithographic techniques, with EUV considered the modern-day frontrunner leading the way to the world’s most advanced chips.

The United States has imposed restrictions on the technologies that corporations can provide to some Chinese entities, including the equipment produced by Dutch company ASML that is required to perform EUV lithography. In so doing, the United States (and supporting Western nations) hoped to significantly hamper China’s ability to achieve the most advanced semiconductor technology.

In actuality, the restrictions triggered innovation—as is always the case in semiconductor evolution—and China’s SMIC quietly achieved the 7nm process without EUV.

In the ebook, Lithography: Gatekeeper to Technological Independence and Advancement, TechInsights’ Sinjin Dixon-Warren examines key lithography techniques currently in use or in heavy research and development. The ebook includes a discussion of patent holdings in lithography equipment and techniques, and it comments further on China’s response to EUV restrictions.

Download the ebook to learn more about the history and future of lithography techniques, patent holdings from key players, and how China achieved 7nm.