Technology Blog

Michael Harper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online In order to speed up the pace of production of faster and more power efficient computer chips, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has announced they are investing €838 million (US $1 billion) in ASML, a tool maker from the Netherlands. Already one of the world’s largest tool makers, ASML currently provides equipment and tools to some of the heavy weights in chipmaking, namely Intel and Samsung. For their investment, TSMC will get a 5% stake in ASML. The company also plans to further invest towards research and development of new technologies, such as larger, thinner chip wafers —  somewhere around 450-mm — to boost the speed of these chips as well as boost the speed of production. ASML is also working on an extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) technology. This EUV technology would be used to allow chip makers to cram more transistors on the silicon boards. TSMC announced a similar investment last month, saying they’d invest €