Why does only one company make the machines that print the smallest chips?

Only one company makes the machines that print the smallest chips because the machines are extraordinarily hard to build, and it took decades and partners from many countries to make them work. ASML, a Dutch company, is as of 2026 the world's only manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, which are required to make the most advanced chips. EUV lithography is a kind of photolithography that uses light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometres to create intricate patterns on a silicon wafer.

The reason for such short-wavelength light is that smaller light draws smaller details. In the 1960s chipmakers used visible light with wavelengths as short as 435 nanometres. Later they moved to ultraviolet light of 365, then 248 and then 193 nanometres, called deep UV. The step after that, EUV, caused problems: EUV light is absorbed by glass and air, so mirrors in a vacuum are needed instead of lenses. The leading stepper producers Canon and Nikon stopped development.

ASML kept going. It began developing EUV technology in 1997, and in July 2012 Intel invested $4.1 billion in ASML for a 15 percent stake to help fund the expensive research. The first prototype, in 2006, produced one wafer in 23 hours. As of 2022 a scanner produces up to 200 wafers per hour.

Because the machines are so important, governments pay attention. The United States pressured Dutch authorities to restrict the sale of EUV machines to China, and ASML follows Dutch export controls, under which it has no authority to ship them there. Reuters reported in December 2025 that China had developed its own prototype EUV lithography system.