Fire at ASML in Berlin: production only partially affected


After the fire in the Berlin plant of the technology company ASML at the beginning of this year, the effects are limited, according to the company. The production of exposure machines with classic immersion lithography (DUV) are therefore hardly affected. Exposure machines with extreme ultraviolet wavelengths (EUV), on the other hand, were more severely affected. The effects on production volumes and deliveries to customers are still being investigated.

The supplier of components for microchip manufacturing stated that a fire started in one of the buildings of the Berlin plant and the smoke affected an adjacent housing. Production was partially resumed in both buildings. Other factory buildings are not affected and are fully operational.

The production of DUV systems (193 nanometer wavelength) has been completely ramped up again. According to ASML, the fire interrupted the manufacturing of components for DUV (Deep-Ultra-Violet), but the company does not expect any impact on production and sales plans in this area.

The situation is different with the EUV systems (13.5 nanometers). The fire affected wafer modules in these systems. ASML is still in the process of restoring production in this area. The company is trying to minimize its impact on EUV customers, but these investigations are ongoing.

ASML will release its last quarter and previous year results next week. Then the company will also provide further details about the fire in the Berlin plant and the expected effects. After the fire at ASML, the consequences for the semiconductor industry were still unclear. There were fears that delivery bottlenecks for semiconductors could worsen.

According to the fire brigade, an automatic cleaning system on around 200 square meters caught fire. According to the company, the site covers a total of 32,000 square meters, on which 1210 people work. The work is more likely to be known to Berliners under the name Berliner Glas. The Dutch company ASML took over Berliner Glas in 2020.


(fds)

To home page



Source link -64