SMIC (China) is pushing ASML DUV systems to their absolute limits (5nm) with multipatterning. I wonder what manufacturer of DUV machines we'll be using before (if ever?) ASELSAN produces something. Probably Canon. We're so far behind that these factories will only serve our military unfortunately.
EUV relies on research from the 90s by US taxpayer funded labs (LLNL, Sandia). That's why the US has so much power over:
1. ASML (Netherlands, EUV systems)
2. Zeiss (Germany, makes the molecularly perfect mirrors in EUV systems)
3. IMEC (Belgium, fundamental IC and VLSI research partner of ASML)
4. TSMC (Taiwan, does the hard work of process development at scale, which even Intel [RIP] has consistently failed to catch up to)
Japan (Canon, Nikon) wasn't given access to this research, and ASML, IMEC and Zeiss were the only ones brave enough to realize it. Now ASML has new High-NA EUV systems that will push the boundaries of photolithography even further. Canon claims that nanoimprint lithography is viable, but this is just marketing for the foreseeable future.
Modern ICs are so advanced and in demand that wars will soon be fought over them. Brainless idealist techbro Sam Altman (who'll be the end of us) wanted 36 new factories from TSMC, and was promptly brushed off because the cost of even a single one is unfathomable. While AI is overhyped to some degree, our demand for compute will grow exponentially. We're too late, but I suppose something (literal early 2000s tech) is better than nothing. I am eternally saddened by how poorly we invested in our nation's development.