Chinese Startup Langdao Silex Demos Prototype EUV Light Source

Chinese startup Langdao Silex has demonstrated a prototype extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source, a step toward reducing China's reliance on foreign chipmaking equipment. The company showed the system, called FlintNano LPP-OXXO, at the 26th China International Industry Fair in Shanghai, where it was displayed without being powered on, according to Tom's Hardware.

The source reportedly delivers more than 15W of EUV output and is built from components that are approximately 90% domestically sourced or developed. It relies on laser-produced plasma (LPP), the same general technique used by ASML, in which high-energy laser pulses strike heated metal droplets to generate the hot plasma that emits EUV radiation.

According to specifications cited by TechPowerUp, the system uses a 1,000W driving laser running at repetition rates between 1 and 20 kHz, with a conversion efficiency exceeding 2%. The company says the equipment can run continuously for more than 100 hours, and the prototype is described as suitable for wafer exposure testing, though further tuning is still required.