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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →ASML, Nikon and Canon do not sell three equivalent versions of the same chipmaking machine. ASML supplies optical lithography systems using both deep ultraviolet (DUV) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light; Nikon’s listed semiconductor scanners use optical DUV; and Canon’s FPA-1200NZ2C uses nanoimprint lithography, pressing a patterned mask into resist instead of projecting an image. Their published figures describe different technologies and metrics, so a single “smallest chip” ranking would be misleading.
How the three companies’ approaches differ
Lithography transfers patterns onto a wafer in repeated steps as part of semiconductor manufacturing. A lithography system prints layers; it does not make a complete chip on its own. The companies differ both in the pattern-transfer method they offer and in the roles of their systems.
| Company | Pattern-transfer approach in its semiconductor portfolio | Examples of published system information | What the comparison does—and does not—show |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASML | Optical projection using DUV and EUV | NXE EUV systems: 13.5 nm light and NA 0.33; EXE High-NA platform: NA 0.55. ASML describes its DUV portfolio as including immersion and dry systems. | Among these three companies’ reviewed portfolios, ASML is the one offering EUV systems. Its platform specifications do not by themselves establish a direct cost, throughput or yield comparison with another vendor. |
| Nikon | Optical projection using DUV, including ArF immersion and dry ArF, as well as KrF and i-line systems | NSR-S636E immersion scanner: 193 nm, NA 1.35, resolution of 38 nm or finer, at least 280 wafers per hour at 96 shots, and same-model mix-and-match overlay of 2.1 nm or better, according to Nikon. | Nikon publishes detailed measures for named scanners, but each figure belongs to its stated model and conditions. The overlay value is not a cross-vendor measurement. |
| Canon | Nanoimprint lithography (NIL), in which a patterned mask is pressed into resist | Canon states that the FPA-1200NZ2C can achieve a 14 nm minimum linewidth. Its launch release does not provide throughput or fab qualification metrics. | NIL is a distinct pattern-transfer route, not a projection scanner. Canon’s linewidth statement is not the same metric as a scanner’s resolution specification. |
Sources: ASML’s EUV and DUV product descriptions; Nikon’s semiconductor lithography lineup; and Canon’s FPA-1200NZ2C launch announcement. These are company-published descriptions and specifications, not independent head-to-head test results.
What ASML’s DUV and EUV systems do
DUV: optical projection across multiple applications
ASML’s DUV portfolio includes immersion and dry lithography systems. The company describes immersion tools as workhorses for advanced logic and memory, and says dry systems are often used for less complex layers because they cost less to buy and maintain. Its listed DUV applications include 3D NAND and production in 200 mm fabs. Those cost and application descriptions are ASML’s characterizations, not comparable independent cost findings.
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In immersion lithography, water sits between the final lens and the wafer, increasing the system’s numerical aperture (NA). ASML says its immersion optics reach NA 1.35. Its current DUV page names the TWINSCAN NXT:2150i among its immersion systems and lists ArF, KrF and i-line systems.
EUV: shorter-wavelength projection for intricate layers
ASML’s NXE EUV systems use 13.5 nm light and NA 0.33. ASML describes them as tools for advanced logic and memory layers, while DUV systems print other layers. The company expects EUV and DUV to be used in parallel for years; EUV is not a replacement for every lithography step.
ASML’s EXE platform raises NA to 0.55. The company states an 8 nm resolution for EXE and describes the platform as intended to support high-volume manufacturing during 2025–2026 and future advanced nodes. That timing and performance are company product statements; they do not establish delivery or production results for a particular fab.
The optical systems also differ in how they handle light. ASML explains that DUV systems use lenses, while EUV is absorbed by most materials and therefore uses multilayer mirrors in a vacuum optical path. EUV’s 13.5 nm wavelength is shorter than DUV’s 193 nm wavelength, which helps explain why the EUV systems are used for more intricate layers even though their NA is below the 1.35 figure given for DUV immersion.
What Nikon’s scanners offer
ArF immersion: published specifications for the NSR-S636E
Nikon’s NSR-S636E uses a 193 nm ArF excimer source and NA 1.35. Nikon lists resolution of 38 nm or finer, throughput of at least 280 wafers per hour at 96 shots, and mix-and-match overlay of 2.1 nm or better. Its product release dates to December 6, 2023. Nikon defines mix-and-match overlay as machine-to-machine accuracy between systems of the same model, so the figure should not be read as an overlay comparison against ASML or Canon.
Nikon says the S636E is designed for critical layers and diverse structures, including 3D devices. It attributes its overlay and productivity approach to an enhanced inline Alignment Station that measures wafers before exposure and corrects wafer warpage and distortion. Nikon also reported output 10–15% higher than current-generation systems, subject to conditions. That is the company’s stated comparison, not a general independently verified productivity result.
Nikon lists the related NSR-S635E with the same stated wavelength, NA, resolution and overlay threshold as the S636E, and throughput of at least 275 wafers per hour at 96 shots. The figures are Nikon specifications for those named models and conditions.
Dry DUV and mature-node platforms
Nikon’s lineup also includes dry ArF, KrF and i-line semiconductor lithography systems, plus back-end digital lithography. In a September 25, 2025 announcement, Nikon specified the NSR-S333F dry ArF scanner at 193 nm, NA 0.92, resolution of 65 nm or finer, throughput of at least 300 wafers per hour at 96 shots, and same-model overlay of 4 nm or better.
Nikon said orders for the S333F would begin in October 2025 and that initial deliveries were expected in the second half of 2026. That release gives a company schedule; it does not establish whether deliveries have occurred.
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How Canon’s nanoimprint system works
Pattern transfer by imprint rather than projection
Canon announced the FPA-1200NZ2C on October 13, 2023. In conventional optical lithography, a system projects a pattern onto resist. Canon describes NIL as pressing a patterned mask into resist “like a stamp.” The company says one imprint can form a complex two- or three-dimensional pattern, and argues that this process may reduce cost of ownership. That cost statement is Canon’s rationale, not a verified comparison of fab economics.
How to interpret Canon’s linewidth claims
Canon states that its NIL technology enables a minimum linewidth of 14 nm, which it equates to a 5 nm node. The company says a 10 nm minimum linewidth, corresponding to a 2 nm node, may be possible in the future with improved mask technology. The 10 nm figure is forward-looking and depends on mask improvements; neither number should be treated as an independent production result or equated with a scanner resolution value.
Canon names logic, other semiconductors and metalenses for extended-reality optics as possible applications. Its launch announcement does not give throughput or fab qualification metrics, so it cannot support a like-for-like production comparison with the Nikon scanner specifications above.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsWhy headline lithography numbers are not a league table
- Wavelength and NA work together. A higher NA alone does not mean a system prints smaller features than one with a shorter wavelength. Optical design and the patterning process matter too.
- Resolution and minimum linewidth are not interchangeable labels. Nikon publishes scanner resolution for particular models; Canon’s 14 nm statement is a NIL minimum linewidth claim. Those figures do not establish equivalent production capability.
- Overlay needs its definition. Nikon’s 2.1 nm or better figure for the S636E is mix-and-match overlay between machines of the same model, not a universal or cross-vendor value.
- Throughput needs its exposure conditions. Nikon’s wafer-per-hour specifications are stated at 96 shots. They should not be presented as unconditional output or compared with a figure measured under different conditions.
- One machine specification is not a full process result. The cited company materials do not establish comparable cross-vendor yield, system-level cost of ownership, customer adoption or installed-base figures for these systems.
What ASML’s 2025 sales figures say—and what they do not
ASML reported sales of 48 EUV and 279 DUV lithography systems in 2025, among 535 total system sales. These are counts of ASML systems, not market-share figures for the lithography industry and not a comparison with Nikon’s or Canon’s sales. ASML also reported €32.7 billion in total net sales for 2025; that is company-wide revenue, not lithography-only sales.
Which distinction matters most?
For a quick category comparison, ASML spans EUV and DUV optical projection, Nikon competes in optical DUV and lists systems across several wavelength generations, and Canon’s FPA-1200NZ2C takes a different route by imprinting a mask pattern. The meaningful comparison depends on the layer, process and metric in question—not on treating every published “nm” value as the same measurement.
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