A Chinese startup has shown a prototype EUV light source that it says produces more than 15W, but it did not switch the thing on, and a light source is only one part of a lithography machine.
Langdao Silex, founded in 2024 by alumni of Tsinghua University's Gas Discharge Plasma Laboratory, displayed the FlintNano LPP-OXXO at the 26th China International Industry Fair in Shanghai. It uses laser-produced plasma, the same approach as ASML's sources: laser pulses hit tiny heated metal droplets and create plasma that emits extreme ultraviolet light. The company lists a 1,000W driving laser, a 1 kHz to 20 kHz operating frequency, conversion efficiency above 2%, a 60 μm plasma and continuous operation for over 100 hours. It also claims 90% domestic components and says commercialization needs another three to five years.
Every number comes from the company. The prototype was not demonstrated running, and Langdao has not said whether its 15W is measured at the plasma or at intermediate focus, the point where ASML quotes output. Measured at the plasma, usable power would be considerably lower. Nor has it said whether the 90% counts parts, value or something else.
The history offers a yardstick. ASML's early demonstration tools used roughly 10W sources in 2007, and Cymer's sources delivered up to 11W during wafer exposure in 2012. Gigaphoton, a Japanese maker, reached 118W in a 10-minute test by late 2014. ASML introduced 250W-class sources for commercial production in 2018 and 2019.
A source at this level could still help with photoresist development, mask inspection research and optics work. A scanner also needs multilayer mirrors, wafer and reticle stages and tight overlay accuracy, and that supply chain barely exists in China today. Cymer took about six years to go from 11W to 125W-150W, which makes development tools the realistic ceiling for Langdao's three-to-five-year window. The open question is where those 15W were actually measured.