Why It Was Almost Impossible To Make Transistors Less Than 10 nm

In this video, Derek Muller walks you through the insane machines and physics behind extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography that finally kept Moore’s Law alive. You’ll learn how microchips are built, why squeezing transistors below 10 nm was such a nightmare, and how ASML’s giant EUV steppers work their magic by shooting high-energy light at silicon wafers.

Along the way we get a crash course on nuclear-fusion-grade light sources, see how ASML conquered the chip world, meet their biggest customers (think Intel, TSMC and Samsung), and find out why this single company might just be the most important tech player on Earth.

Watch on YouTube