Samsung Electronics to Adopt High-NA EUV Technology Starting at 1nm Samsung Electronics plans to introduce a major innovation in lithography technology beginning with its 1-nanometer process, which could enter mass production as early as 2030. The company intends to deploy High-NA EUV, a next-generation extreme ultraviolet lithography technology, in volume production at the 1nm node and is currently focused on developing the technology required for commercialization. Park Chang-min, a Master at Samsung Electronics, disclosed the company’s lithography technology roadmap on August 11 at the 2026 Next-Generation Lithography + Patterning Conference (NGL 2026), held at the Suwon Convention Center in Gyeonggi Province. Lithography is the process of transferring circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers. Samsung Electronics has used EUV lithography in volume production since introducing it at advanced foundry nodes of 8nm and below. EUV has a wavelength of 13.5nm, approximately one-thirteenth that of argon fluoride (ArF), the conventional light source used in semiconductor lithography. This allows ultrafine patterns that require multiple exposures, or multi-patterning, with ArF to be produced with fewer exposures—or even a single exposure. Reducing the number of patterning steps can lower manufacturing costs and improve productivity. Samsung Electronics is also intensifying its development of High-NA EUV, the next generation of EUV technology. The company is targeting the 1nm, or A10, process for its full-scale deployment in volume production. The “A” refers to angstroms, with one angstrom equal to 0.1nm. “We had hoped to apply High-NA EUV to volume production at the 2nm and 1.4nm nodes, but the technology still requires further refinement,” Park said. “We believe High-NA EUV will become necessary from A10 and below, and we are jointly developing the technology with various partners.” Based on this roadmap, Samsung Electronics is expected to begin using High-NA EUV in mass production around 2030. The company has already commercialized its 2nm process and plans to begin volume production of its 1.4nm SF1.4 process in 2029. It is reportedly preparing to start mass production of SF1.4+, an enhanced version of the 1.4nm process, as well as its 1nm process in 2030. High-NA EUV increases the numerical aperture, or NA, of the optical system from the current 0.33 to 0.55. Numerical aperture measures an optical system’s ability to collect and focus light. A higher NA improves resolution, making it easier to create finer circuit patterns. High-NA EUV can enable single-patterning for ultrafine features that would otherwise require multi-patterning with conventional EUV. This can improve cost efficiency. Because the pattern can be created in a single exposure, it also provides greater flexibility in circuit design. However, High-NA EUV is extremely technically challenging, and the equipment is highly expensive. Related technologies and materials, including masks and pellicles, must also advance. The industry therefore expects EUV multi-patterning and High-NA EUV single-patterning to be used in parallel at future process nodes. “Multi-patterning based on 0.33-NA EUV will remain the mainstream approach through the 1.4nm and 1nm nodes,” Park said. “For the process generations that follow, I believe High-NA patterning will become the mainstream.” $ASML