Imec’s new post-exposure bake method speeds up EUV chipmaking tools, boosting production for the most advanced chips — 20% gain in photoresist improvement from increased oxygen concentration

Increased oxygen concentration during the EUV lithography post-exposure bake step can increase photoresist performance by 15% – 20%, according to Imec’s findings.
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Intel Foundry boss leaves for Qualcomm — Naga Chandrasekaran takes charge of the unit

Naga Chandrasekaran promoted to Chief Technology and Operations Officer as well as the general manager of Intel Foundry responsible for development of advanced process technologies and day-to-day operations.
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Chipmakers still suffering from rare earth shortages, says report — US-China trade truce apparently still hasn’t eased pressures despite agreement taking place in October last year

Sources told Reuters that some U.S. chipmaking firms are running low on scandium — a crucial rare earth material for making 5G chips — as they suffer delays from acquiring export licenses from Beijing.
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China to increase leading-edge chip output by 5x in two years, report claims — aims to lift 7nm and 5nm production to 100,000 wafers per month, targeting half a million monthly by 2030

Chinese foundries looking to increase 7nm and below capacity to 100,000 wafer starts per month in one or two years, says Nikkei.
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US gov’t warned Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Tim Cook, and Lisa Su that China could invade Taiwan by 2027 — Apple CEO reportedly said he sleeps ‘with one eye open’

A new investigative report from The New York Times reveals that, in July 2023, senior US intelligence officials privately briefed some of the tech industry’s most powerful executives on classified assessments regarding Chi…

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ASML makes breakthrough in EUV chipmaking tech, plans to increase speed by 50% by 2030 — new 1,000-watt light source fires three lasers at 100,000 tin droplets every second

ASML to use a new CO2 laser system and tin droplet generator to increase EUV light source performance to 1000W and lithography tool productivity to 330 wafers per hour in 2030 and beyond.
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The state of China’s decade-long semiconductor push: still a decade behind, despite hundreds of billions spent and significant progress — examining the original ‘Made in China 2025’ initiative

After 10 years and hundreds of billions of investments, China’s semiconductor supply chain is still decades behind chip supply chain in America and Taiwan.
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TSMC considers an additional $100 billion investment into Arizona fabs to bolster American chipmaking efforts — move would help TSMC’s chips avoid tariffs due to local production

TSMC, other companies to invest $250 billion in the U.S. as part of trade deal, TSMC reportedly mulls additional $100 billion investment and four more fab modules.
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iFixIt calls BMW’s new anti-consumer security screws ‘a logo-shaped middle finger to right to repair,’ Adafruit 3D prints a solution — BMW’s connector reverse engineered using patent filing as a design blueprint

Automaker BMW has filed a patent for a new fastener which takes design cues from the its iconic segmented roundel logo. but it has been accused of creating this design for service and repair gatekeeping.
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Rapidus targets mass 2nm chip production in 2027, quadruples capacity ramp up — company plans to scale to 25,000 wafer starts per month in just one year

Japan’s state-backed foundry Rapidus plans to begin production of 2nm-class semiconductors in the second half of its fiscal year 2027, with full-scale production expected in 2028.
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