ASML and TSMC aim to replace 6-inch EUV masks with 12-inch photomasks by 2031

ASML and TSMC announced a joint initiative on September 7, ahead of the SPIE BACUS Conference in Monterey, California, to push the semiconductor industry toward 12-inch photomasks for High NA EUV lithography. The two companies want a 12-inch mask pilot line running by 2031, with lithography systems ready for advanced-node production by 2033.

High NA EUV is set to enter production on today's standard 6-inch masks first. The move to 12-inch masks comes later, and it targets limits that show up once High NA tools run at scale: stitching constraints on large chip designs, scanner productivity ceilings, and mask-related cost per wafer. ASML president and CEO Christophe Fouquet said adoption of High NA EUV will "increase progressively along the device scaling roadmap, first using current 6-inch masks and then further supported by 12-inch masks, which enable greater scanner productivity."

The interesting part for anyone tracking lithography metrology is the timeline gap. TSMC expects to put High NA EUV into high-volume manufacturing for advanced nodes starting in 2030, a full year before the 12-inch pilot line is even scheduled to exist. That means mask inspection, registration, and CD metrology tooling built around 6-inch masks will need to carry advanced-node production well into the next decade, while a parallel qualification effort gets built out for the larger format.

TSMC also pointed to why the pressure is building. As nodes advance, the number of layers requiring High NA EUV will keep rising, driven largely by the increasingly complex transistor architectures needed for AI chips. TSMC chairman and CEO Dr. C.C. Wei said the initiative pulls together "expertise from across the industry's value chain" to lower barriers to adopting the technology.

ASML and TSMC say other High NA EUV adopters, along with major mask and equipment suppliers, have already expressed interest in joining, though neither company named which ones attended the September 7 event. Getting that wider supplier base, mask blank makers, pellicle vendors, and inspection tool builders aligned on a single 12-inch specification is the harder problem, and it has to happen well before the 2031 pilot-line target.