China Reverse-Engineered ASML Gear to Make EUV Lithography Tool

A secret laboratory in China has quietly assembled a prototype extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography system and is now testing it, raising the possibility that the country is attempting to replicate one of the most advanced technologies currently in existence, Reuters reported.

The system was reportedly completed in early 2025 inside a highly secured facility in Shenzhen and occupies nearly an entire factory floor. (Photo: Google Cloud) 

Reporting for Tom’s Hardware, Anton Shilov said the tool was reportedly developed by reverse-engineering existing scanners from ASML and is said to be on track to produce prototype chips by 2028.

If accurate, the report would imply that Chinese scientists have achieved breakthroughs across multiple disciplines in just a few years rather than decades—a scenario that many analysts view as highly unlikely.

Further analysis suggests China’s laboratory remains far from completing a fully functional tool, meaning the country is still years away from producing chips using EUV lithography.

The system was reportedly completed in early 2025 inside a highly secured facility in Shenzhen and occupies nearly an entire factory floor.

The machine is said to generate EUV light at a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers using the same laser-produced plasma (LPP) method employed by ASML’s Twinscan NXE machines.

It does not use the particle accelerator–based steady-state microbunching (SSMB) method developed at Tsinghua University or the discharge-produced plasma (DPP) technology designed at the Harbin Institute of Technology—reinforcing suspicions that the system was reverse-engineered or incorporates substantial ASML-derived technology.