Applied Materials to Challenge ASML’s Grip With New Machines
- The equipment is designed to reduce need for lithography
- The approach would rejigger production of ultra-powerful chips
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Applied Materials Inc. has begun selling a chipmaking machine designed to decrease the industry’s reliance on ASML Holding NV and more cheaply produce the kind of ultra-powerful semiconductors that can handle artificial intelligence tasks.
The company’s Centura Sculpta machine — a so-called pattern shaping system — lets customers reduce the amount of time they spend on lithography, the process of using light to burn lines into silicon. Lithography has become increasingly complex and expensive, and the new approach will help streamline chip production while reducing waste, Applied Materials said Tuesday.