Dutch chip equipment maker ASML said on June 02 its most advanced immersion lithography equipment was being used by customers for commercial production.
"We now have 15 machines outside with customers. Today they are being used for commercial production, but not in large volumes," Martin van den Brink, ASML's executive vice president for marketing and technology, told journalists.
Immersion lithography machines sell for up to 30 million euros ($38 million) apiece, and use water between the lens and the silicon wafer to increase depth of focus.
This allows chip makers to project smaller features and thinner circuits, and thus more chips on one silicon wafer, which increases productivity and enables them to cut prices.