What ASML has next after EUV. ASML ("Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography") being the world's biggest chip manufacturing equipment provider, and EUV being "extreme ultraviolet" -- lithography using extremely short wavelengths of light. ASML already has basic EUV systems working, and companies are using them to manufacture chips. What's next?
It's all about the NA. "NA" stands for numerical aperture. The "numerical aperature" tells you the range of angles over which a lens or other optical system can emit or receive light. He illustrates this with "light cones" in the video which visually illustrates from which angles light can strike the surface of the semiconductor. The larger the NA, the larger the range of angles.
He uses the term "pitch" without defining it. In semiconductor lithography, the "half pitch" is generally the smallest feature size that can be etched on the chip. If you wanted two wires next to each other, you'd need a half pitch for each wire width and another half pitch for the gab between them. Therefore the distance from the edge of one wire to the corresponding edge of the wire next to it would be two half pitches -- in other words, a full pitch. So "pitch" refers to the distance between two wires on the chip.
