Carl Zeiss SMT and ASML published research examining extreme-ultraviolet lithography with numerical aperture at least 0.75, beyond current 0.55 systems.

The update is a research publication rather than a commercial equipment launch. Researchers at Carl Zeiss SMT and ASML published a paper titled “Hyper-NA: a system with a numerical aperture of at least 0.75.” Semiconductor Engineering summarized it as an examination of a possible extension beyond current High-NA systems.

The numerical comparison concerns optical aperture. The paper examines extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography with numerical aperture (NA) of at least 0.75, compared with 0.55 NA for the current systems referenced in the source. These figures are not process-node dimensions or manufacturing-throughput measurements.

The supplied summary identifies optical architecture and resolution potential as research topics. It also references reticle three-dimensional considerations, but the excerpt ends before providing their details. No commercial availability date, equipment price, qualified process, or production performance result is supplied.