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Subject: From Copycat to Innovator
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2025 10:56:01 +0000
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A homegrown version of the extreme ultra-violet lithography system
needed to produce the most advanced chips is on trial at a Huawei
facility, say reports.
Picture of Iain Morris
Iain Morris, International Editor

March 14, 2025

...
According to various reports that seem to have originated in China, an
EUV system called laser-induced discharge plasma (LDP) technology has
been going through tests at a Huawei facility in Dongguan. One report
says it has been able to generate the 13.5-nanometer wavelength by
"vaporizing tin between electrodes and converting it to plasma via
high-voltage discharge, where electron-ion collisions produce the
required wavelength."

ASML has relied on an alternative EUV technique called laser-produced
plasma (LPP), which seems to involve the use of higher-energy lasers
than LDP needs. "It's a pretty cool technique because it's actually
simpler than what ASML does," said Earl Lum, a chips expert and the
founder of EJL Wireless Research. "It could be cheaper to make the
machine because of the strategy that ASML had to use."

Trials do not mean a Chinese flavor of EUV is close to commercial
deployment, of course, and a few press reports that leave many questions
unanswered must be treated with a generous dose of skepticism. ASML's
share price fell 7% on March 10, days after the reports about China's
apparent EUV breakthrough. But this may have been linked to more general
concerns about tariffs and their economic impact. Other chip stocks also
suffered.

Even so, the idea that ASML has an unassailable position in EUV looks
increasingly suspect and hubristic. The claims made about DeepSeek, a
Chinese AI model supposedly much more efficient than OpenAI and other
western fare, have been taken seriously by various technical experts
outside China, including some chief technology officers who attended
this month's Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. If China can
potentially beat the US in AI software, why not in other areas, too?"

From copycat to innovator

Huawei, which declined to comment on the reports about EUV testing in
Dongguan, was subject to the same western contempt when it first entered
the market for mobile basestation products. Initially, it was derided as
a copycat and thief of US intellectual property, selling products that
mimicked those of European and US rivals at knockdown prices. By the
time 5G was launched, it was recognized as an innovator by the chief
technology officers of European telcos buying its products. Huawei had
in the space of two mobile generations apparently overtaken Ericsson on
product quality – boasting the industry's best metrics for the weight,
performance and energy efficiency of its most advanced 5G radios.
...

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