manufacturing

A critical component of current chips manufacturing machines

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The teams of extreme ultraviolet photolithography (UVE) that manufactures the Dutch company ASML are extraordinarily sophisticated. In fact, they are those currently using TSMC, Samsung, Intel, Sy Hynix and Micron Technology for produce integrated avant -garde circuits. They are so complex that during the first phases of their design in the early 90s of the last century, ASML engineers They believed it was impossible. However, everything changed in 1997. That year Jos Benschop, the leader of the research department, reassess whether UNVE technology was a viable option. After the first tests he realized that The German company Zeiss He was able to develop extraordinarily sophisticated mirrors that would be necessary to transport ultraviolet light. And he was not wrong. That was the real starting point of technology that has made it possible for our mobile phones and computers to have such advanced chips. Zeiss’s feat arrived in the 90s One of the most complex elements of UVE lithography machines is The ultraviolet light source. The company of American origin Cymer, although since 2013 it is not an independent company. That year ASML executives decided to buy it to accelerate the development of the technologies involved in UVE lithography. An interesting note: the ultraviolet light is responsible for transporting the geometric pattern described by the mask so that it can be transferred with a lot of precision to the surface of the silicon wafer. Understanding what is the mask is simple: it is nothing other than a physical template that contains the design of the integrated circuit that is necessary to transfer to the Silicon wafer. In any case, there is another component without whose intervention It is not possible to carry out this crucial task. Other components, in plural, in reality, although all of them are of the same type. It is precisely the mirrors that Jos Benschop suspected in 1997 that Zeiss could produce. The light of 11.4 nm was discarded because it forced to use beryllium in the mirrors and is a toxic chemical element The role of the optical elements of this company in these lithography equipment is crucial. And it is because they are responsible for moving the UVE light with a wavelength of 13.5 nm from the source that is responsible for its emission to the mask contained in the geometric pattern that is necessary to translate into the silicon wafer. If the mirrors involved in the propagation of the UVE light are not manufactured with enormous precision the geometric pattern defined by the mask will be altered, and the chips will be damaged. Interestingly, the choice of the wavelength of the UVE light used by these machines was a very delicate decision. Initially the engineers involved in their tuning had four possible options: 13.5 nm, 11.4 nm, 6.6 nm and 4.8 nm. These last two wavelengths were finally ruled out due to the limitations they imposed Organic photorestoning materials. The light of 11.4 Nm was also discarded because it forced to use beryllium in the mirrors, and is a toxic chemical element. The wavelength of 13.5 Nm required to introduce molybdenum and silicon mirrors, but these elements do not pose any problem. This is the reason why UVE machines work with this light. In any case, this data clearly reflects the extraordinary level of precision with which it is necessary to manufacture the mirrors: Zeiss uses argon ions and other elements to polish layer per layer at the atomic level the mirrors, and then identifies and corrects the defects using a subnustric analysis technique. This last tool is capable of detecting defects with a lower precision than a nanometer (less than a millmillonieth part of a meter). * Some price may have changed from the last review Image | Zeiss BIBLIOGRAPHY | ‘Focus: The Asml Way’by Marc Hijink More information | Zeiss | Asianometry In Xataka | 2024 has been a year full of uncertainty for chip designers. So much that the market has changed leader

The US is realizing that manufacturing the iPhone without China is almost impossible. Tariff exemptions are the test

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Donald Trump’s administration has applied a very special exemption to reciprocal tariffs announced The last days. Thus, mobile phones, computers and some other consumer electronics products “are fought”. Importing them to the United States will not make 10%global tariffs apply, nor China’s specific ones, which are 125%. What products are exempt. The note published by the US Customs Department almost without making noise is especially important, and makes a list of HTSUS codes (Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States) that include different types of electronic products. Among them, exemptions affect: 8471: PCS of desktop, laptops and its components, such as CPUS, hard or I/O peripheral discs as monitors (8528.52.00), mice and keyboards 8517.13.00: smartphones 8517.62.00: Routers, modems, wireless access points 8523.51.00: SSD units 8524: CDS and DVDS Regrabable 8541.49.10 and 8541.49.70: Solar panel cells 8541.49.80: LEDs 8542: microprocessors, controllers, memory chips and other integrated circuits But they are temporary exemptions. As they point out In Financial TimesUS Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, made it clear that these exemptions are temporary. All these products will be part of the semiconductor tariffs, “which will probably arrive in a month or two.” Trump denies that this are exemptions. In his social network Truth, Donald Trump He also stood out That what was announced on Friday were no exceptions to tariffs and made it clear that these products are still subject to 20% rates related to the fentanil. “What has been stated is that we need to manufacture products in the United States, and that we will not be hostages from other countries, especially hostile commercial nations such as China, which will do everything in their hand to disrespect the US people,” he added in his statement. Dodging price increases. The measure is clearly aimed at avoiding notable price increases in semiconductors, mobiles and consumer electronics products, especially considering that a vast majority of those sold in the United States They come from China. The impact for consumers can be very important, and these temporary exemptions reduce concern for the future of these products and their prices and protect strategic sectors. The iPhone as a great example. Some analysts estimate that the price of the iPhone in the United States It could triple If the cost of tariffs ends up moving to consumers. Apple smartphones are one of the clear examples of how tariffs would affect US consumers first and the rest of the world later. The climb of reciprocal tariffs between the US and China has been spectacular in recent weeks. Source: Reuters China as a US factory. According to Counterpoint Research dataChina represents 80% of the iPhone production sold in the United States. The remaining 20% ​​are manufactured in India, a country in which Apple is gradually growing in production precisely to avoid the dependence of China. The Cupertino company in fact fought several aircraft full of iPhone From India to try to have some margin of maneuver if tariffs came into force. Exemptions also disappear the “basic” 10% tariff that applied globally and included countries such as India. These exemptions are also partly the tacit recognition to manufacture the iPhone in the US It is practically impossible. Business pressure. The impact of tariffs has been especially remarkable for Big Tech, which have collapsed in the stock market in recent weeks. All of them depend largely on China’s production capacity, and these exemptions are also an acceptance (at least temporary) that changing things and mitigating Chinese dependence will take a long time. No official explanation. The US government did not explanations about the reason why it applied these exemptions, but it is evident that This is a big respiteeven if it is temporary, for companies such as Apple, Nvidia, Dell, or HP, which import a good part of their products from China. A war without winners. As they point out In axiosChinese President Xi Jinping stressed that a war of tariffs “will not produce any winner.” China indicated that I was evaluating the impact of these exemptions. In a statement last Sunday, the Chinese Ministry of Trade Califified the measure as “a small US step to correct its wrong practice of establishing ‘unilateral reciprocal tariffs.” How will we be next week? Democrate Senator Elizabeth Warren appeared in a debate In CNN to describe the confusion that exists about tariffs. He indicated that “investors will not invest in the US with Donald Trump playing” red light, green light “with tariffs and saying” Oh, and For my special donors, you have special exemptions“. He also highlighted how the situation is impresable.” No one can imagine what the rules will be within five days, much less in five years. “ Image | Gage Skidmore In Xataka | Spain acts where Europe doubts: the strategy that is paying fruits in China

Manufacturing the iPhone 16 Pro of 256 GB in China costs 550 dollars today. With tariffs it will cost $ 850

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The Donald Trump tariffs They are about to unleash A global commercial warand one of the most obvious consequences is clear: everything will cost more. The question, of course, is how much more, and for that we have a good example of reference: Apple’s iPhone, which takes years Trying to diversify your logistics and manufacturing. Goodbye to the iphone of 999 departure dollars? We have been for almost a decade during which Apple has always maintained the starting price of its best iPhone, which was always at $ 999. There were sections with which the firm played to maintain that bar, such as storage capacity, but That price label was consistent. Now it can stop being. Tariffs in sight. Apple manufactures a good part of the iPhone in China, and there the total tariffs will be 54%, a spectacular figure that threatens notable price increases for iPhone. Other Apple products are manufactured in others Asian countries like India (25% of tariffs), Vietnam (46%), Malaysia (24%), Thailand (37%) or Indonesia (32%). Price increases seem practically inevitable. This is hard to make an iPhone now. A study of The Wall Street Journal He points out how the iPhone 16 Pro of 256 GB has a “material bill” of 550 dollars according to data from the Wayne Lam analyst in Techinsights. If we add the assembly and test costs the cost rises to $ 580. And this is what can cost with tariffs. But if we take into account the tariffs that theoretically apply to products imported from China, the iPhone would leave 54% more expensive, which places that cost of 550 dollars in $ 850. The difference is brutal, and obviously Apple would be forced to break the tradition and raise the starting price of these devices. And there is no easy solution (and less in the short term). Dontald Trump’s apparent obsession with tariffs makes potential negotiations They probably don’t get to anything. Apple could manufacture its iPhone in the US, but you can’t do something like that from morning to night, and the firm will have to adapt its prices worldwide. And manufacturing in the US would also be much more expensive. Migrating production to the US does not guarantee that the problem is solved. According to LAM, labor to assemble the mobile that costs $ 30 could cost $ 300 in the United States. And if each component also rises in price, the final cost of the device could become prohibitive for many people. In fact, the alternative you start talking about is Iphones subscriptions. If you have to upload prices, they will upload them. Apple will not shake your pulse when rising prices. They have done it in the past. It happened in 2022 in Japan when Yen was especially weakFor example. That same year we had some that came out especially expensive for inflation. The first harmed by all these circumstances will undoubtedly use users. The iPhone as a terrifying example of everything else. The example of the iPhone manufacturing price increase is an excellent and terrifying example of what can happen with any consumption product that is manufactured in China and wants to be sold in the US. Although it seems that the problem should only affect them, it actually affects everyone: if Apple or any other firm raises the prices of their products for tariffs, it will do it proportionally in all the countries in which it sells them. In Xataka | A 54%tariff, an iPhone of $ 2,300 and no easy output for Apple

It is its grounding chips manufacturing technology

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The American Blackrockthe largest investment company in the world, is very interested in a very little known emerging company dedicated to the manufacture of Quantum computers. According to ReutersPsychantum, which is what is the name of this Startuphe has raised At least 750 million dollars Through an ambitious financing round in which Blackrock seems to have brought the singing voice, but has not yet concluded. That this gigantic investment company is interested in the business of a company dedicated to quantum computers is not striking. The surprising thing is that your attention has fallen to a Startup Very little known. However, it is enough to investigate the psychantum strategy to intuit where Blackrock’s interest comes from. And this is not a small research company in quantum machines. Not much less. Psychantum already produces quantum chips thanks to its alliance with Globalfoundries There is a very obvious difference between Psychantum’s strategy and that of other large companies which are also investing in the development of quantum computers. Google and IBM have opted for superconductor cubits. Ionq and Honeywell, however, produce quantum machines with ion traps cubits. But Psychantum does not use any of these technologies. His philosophy It looks much more like that of Intel than to the companies that I just mentioned. It is possible to manufacture semiconductor cubits using materials very similar to those used to produce conventional chips Intel and Qutech, the Institute for Specialized Research in Quantum Computing that belongs to the Technical University of Delft, in the Netherlands, They demonstrated just a year ago that it is possible to manufacture semiconductor cubits through industrial procedures and using materials very similar to those used for produce conventional chipslike silicon oxide. Psychantum has also achieved it. In fact, he has forged an alliance with one of The main semiconductor manufacturers From the planet: the American firm Globalfoundries. And, apparently, together they are working on the development of the technology of Fotonic silicon to apply it to the production of integrated circuits endowed with quantum properties. This strategy has a very evident advantage against the production of cubits that require exotic materials: it allows to manufacture quantum processors with much more simplicity. In fact, It is feasible to produce them on a large scale through industrial procedure. This is precisely the Psychantum and Globalfoundries Plan. However, there is something else. On paper, semiconductor quantum chips have the ability to facilitate scaling in the number of cubits. And gathering more cubits in a single quantum processor is important not only to have more calculation capacity, but also to make possible the arrival of the first chips of this type equipped with the ability to amend their own mistakes. All this is what is at stake. There is no doubt that Blackrock knows very well where he gets. Image | Psychantum More information | Reuters In Xataka | After triumphing with its chips for AI, Nvidia has set another disruptive technology: quantum computers

Figure creates a system to make large -scale humanoid robots. And of course, there will be robots manufacturing robots

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We had something forgotten to robots, but for A few months We don’t stop to return to hear about them. There are important efforts from companies such as Nvidia – who just put All meat on the grill-, Boston Dynamics or Teslabut there is another company that is pushing strong in this sector. It is called Figure, and has just announced a promising project. Botq. This is the name of the mass manufacturing platform of humanoid robots Announced by Figure. The idea is simple: to create a totally oriented infrastructure to that production of high volumes of robots that end up being used in all types of scenarios. 12,000 humanoid robots per year. The first generation of Botq will be able to produce 12,000 humanoid robots a year, but the company highlights that this is only the beginning “and we will climb considerably from there.” Manufacture with vertical integration. The company will control the construction process and its quality to ensure that the robots that end in the market have according to them the highest quality. They have also been working on software solutions for months to attend these high volume manufacturing processes. Robots building robots. The Humanoid Robots of Figure They already caught our attention last summer, and now these robots will participate in the manufacture of other humanoid robots. That, they say, will happen this year, but in addition “the number of humanoid robots involved (in manufacturing) will grow substantially over time to increase the automation of production lines.” By the way: Elon Musk has an identical idea. Figure 03 on the way. Its current humanoid robot was complex both in necessary elements and in manufacturing processes, but with it they have learned how they can reduce the number of components and how to improve production. And more efficient processes. Thus, instead of CNC machines they will use techniques such as injection molding or pressure foundry that allow “thousands of hours of manufacturing.” In fact, in some components that needed a week to be manufactured with CNC machines, times have gone from only 20 seconds. Image | Figure In Xataka | China’s robots represent an existential threat to the US, according to semi -health experts

Within the most advanced chips manufacturing machines there is something incredible: small supernovae

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Identifying a Supernova is an event that astronomers usually celebrate with enthusiasm. And it is not for less if we consider that they are One of the most violent events with which we can run into the cosmos. Knowing them better is very important because it can help us understand more precision How are the latest stages of The life of mass starsand also the mechanisms that explain how the material caused by stellar synthesis can lead to new star systems. The mathematical tools handled by astrophysics current nuclear fusion that take place in the nucleus of mass stars. During the stage known as the main sequence, stars obtain their energy from the fusion of hydrogen nuclei. As this chemical element is consumed, the star begins to produce helium nuclei, and, of course, its composition begins to evolve. During this process a huge amount of energy is released and the star is forced to continuously readjust to maintain hydrostatic balance, a phenomenon that is the result of the coexistence of two opposite forces capable of compensating. One of them is the gravitational contraction, which compresses the subject of the star, pressing it without rest. And the other is the radiation and gase pressure, which is the fruit of the ignition of the nuclear oven and tries to expand the star. The small supernovae of the extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment As we have anticipated from the holder, this article does not go only from Supernovas; It is also starred by the semiconductors. A priori we can intuit that these cosmic events and integrated circuits have nothing to do, but, curiously, they do have something in common. This is the reason why I found a good idea to start this text reviewing what a supernova is and why they occur. Otherwise we could not understand in all its extension the idea in which we are about to investigate. The ultraviolet radiation generation process used by UVE lithography equipment is very similar to what happens during a Supernova In the teams of extreme ultraviolet lithography (UVE) that manufactures the Dutch company ASML, high power lasers instantly heat tens of thousands of tiny tin drops in a single second until they reach a temperature of half a million Celsius degrees. This interaction produces An extremely hot plasma that emits ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 13.5 nm. This light must later be transported to the wafer thanks to a very precise mirrors and lenses system with the purpose of capturing the patterns that define the integrated circuits on a layer of photorers. Very broadly this is the strategy used by the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing machines that currently exist. And, as we have just seen, high -power lasers interpret an unquestionably protagonist role. As Jays Stewart, Chief of Research at ASML, explains in the very interesting article he has published in IEEE Spectrumthe ultraviolet radiation generation process used by UVE lithography equipment to produce avant -garde chips is very similar to what happens during a supernova. When a massive star exhausts its fuel and stops nuclear fusion processes, radiation pressure and gases is no longer able to counteract gravitational contraction. This phenomenon causes the star iron core It suddenly contracts under the enormous pressure that all layers of material that it has above. The star has lost the hydrostatic balance. At this moment all this matter loses the support that the nucleus exercised, which is now much more compact, and falls on it with enormous speed. When all that star material touches the surface of the nucleus there is a rebound effect that causes it to be fired with a huge energy towards the stellar medium, being disseminated. A supernova has just been produced. Some of them are so energetic that for a few seconds they emit more light than the entire galaxy that contains them. The tiny explosions that take place inside the UVE lithography equipment when a laser affects a tin drop produce a shock wave similar to that originating in the stellar medium, although much smaller scale. Surprisingly the mathematical equations that describe the evolution of these two types of explosions are the same. ASML engineers use them to calculate very precisely how the evolution of the shock wave that triggers plasma balls within the UVE equipment will be. And astrophysicians use them to describe the remains of the supernovas and deduce the properties of the star explosion that originated them. A Supernova has 10⁴⁵ times more energy That an explosion of tin, but thanks to this parallel, ASML engineers have been able to solve the complex problem derived from tin residues inside their most advanced lithography equipment. Image | ASML More information | IEEE Spectrum In Xataka | ‘Focus: The Asml Way’: The book that reveals the secrets of the most powerful European company in the chips industry

It is manufacturing AI chips for Huawei despite the sanctions, according to the United States

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TSMC’s headaches have not finished. The US government definitely included Huawei in its blacklist in 2020, and one of the immediate consequences of this decision was that this Taiwan chips manufacturer stopped producing semiconductors For this Chinese company. Two years later, in October 2022, the US administration decided to include All the Chinese semiconductor industry In his blacklist, which further cut the TSMC client portfolio. Anyway, for Huawei, it has all the meaning of the world to try to make TSMC manufacture some of the integrated circuits you design. This Chinese company is supported In this area by SMICwhich is the main producer of semiconductors in China, but its most advanced integration technologies are not up to TSMC avant -garde lithographs. And not having access to the most advanced lithographic nodes diminishes Huawei’s competitiveness. At the end of October 2024 the US Department of Commerce decided to investigate TSMC because he suspected that this gigantic Taiwanese company could have secretly reached agreements with Huawei to take care of the manufacture of its semiconductors for smartphones and applications of artificial intelligence (AI). At the current situation of tension between the US and China this accusation is very serious. Fortunately for TSMC everything was clarified a few months later. Another disturbing chapter in the relationship held TSMC and Huawei In December 2024 TSMC broke its commercial relationship With Powerair, a Singapore company that, apparently, was responsible for delivering the chip manufactured by TSMC that appeared on the card for the Ascend 910b. Interestingly, this was the second company presumably responsible for reaching Huawei integrated circuits produced by TSMC. In 2023 this last company stopped offering its manufacturing service to the Chinese Chips Design Company Sophgo to illegally mediate with Huawei. The CSIS accuses TSMC of having manufactured for Huawei no less than two million chips from AInd 910 Now is the CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies), an American organization that is dedicated to developing strategies that seek to guarantee the security of the US, which accuses TSMC in A freshly published report having made indirectly for Huawei for 2024 no less than Two million Ascend 910 chips. With these integrated circuits this Chinese company can produce a huge number of units of its ascend 910c solution, which is currently its hardware for the most advanced. The most interesting thing is that The CSIS holds that Huawei has once again resorted to “ghost” companies that act as intermediaries between her and TSMC. However, the author of the report does not exculpate the Taiwanese company: “TSMC manufactured large amounts of Ascend 910b of Huawei in the name of ghost companies and sent them to China, thus violating US export controls.” We will see how all this ends, but it does not paint well for a TSMC that has just embarked into an ambitious strategy of expansion of its production infrastructure within the country currently led by Donald Trump. Image | TSMC More information | Center for Strategic and International Studies In Xataka | TSMC does not contemplate the possibility of buying Intel factories. And their motives have a crushing logic

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