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China has not demonstrated a complete EUV lithography machine. Langdao Silex has shown a laser-produced-plasma (LPP) EUV light-source prototype called FlintNano LPP-OXXO. The company says it can generate at least 15 watts of EUV power and that about 90% of its core components are domestically developed, but those are company claims reported by Wccftech, not independently verified production results.
What Langdao Silex actually unveiled
Langdao Silex displayed FlintNano LPP-OXXO at the 26th China International Industry Fair in Shanghai. It is the light-source subsystem used to generate extreme ultraviolet radiation, not a complete scanner that exposes commercial wafers.
| Reported specification | Claimed value | What the figure means |
|---|---|---|
| Driving laser | 1,000 W | Laser power used to create the tin plasma |
| Pulse repetition rate | 1–20 kHz | Operating frequency range for the laser pulses |
| Conversion efficiency | Above 2% | Share of laser energy converted into EUV radiation |
| EUV output | At least 15 W | Reported source output, not scanner wafer throughput |
| Continuous operation | More than 100 hours | Company-reported endurance figure |
| Plasma size | 60 μm | Reported size of the emitting plasma region |
| Plasma stability | 3% RMS | Reported variation in plasma behavior |
| Energy stability | About 5% | Reported variation in pulse energy |
| Localization | About 90% | Company estimate for core components developed domestically |
The company says the system is suitable for wafer-exposure testing and estimates three to five years before large-scale commercial production. Neither the localization percentage nor the operating, stability and output figures have been independently established in the available reporting.
Why an EUV source is not an EUV machine
EUV lithography uses light at a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers. In the LPP architecture described by ASML, a laser fires repeated pulses at microscopic tin droplets in a near-vacuum chamber. The resulting plasma emits EUV light, which is directed through a chain of multilayer mirrors because EUV is absorbed by almost every ordinary material.
A production scanner must combine that source with extremely precise illumination and projection optics, wafer and reticle stages, vacuum and contamination-control systems, alignment hardware, masks, photoresists, control software and factory automation. The source also has to run at high uptime while maintaining stable energy and protecting expensive optics from tin debris.
ASML says its source process involves tens of thousands of tin-droplet plasma events per second and optics containing more than 100 precision-engineered layers. A source that produces measurable EUV light therefore solves only one part of the manufacturing problem.
Rank #2
How the reported prototype compares with ASML’s source development
| Milestone | Source output | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1 W | ASML’s first prototype source |
| 2018 | 250 W | ASML source milestone |
| 2022 | 500 W | ASML prototype |
| April 2025 | 1,000 W | ASML demonstration source |
ASML says this progression required 25 years of engineering. Its April 2025 demonstration reached 1,000 watts, while the company cautioned that a commercial 1,000-watt source would still take time. Jayson Stewart, ASML’s head of source research, said the demonstration “clearly validates our approach” even though a commercial version would not be ready immediately.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The comparison is not a like-for-like product ranking: Langdao Silex has disclosed a claimed EUV output of at least 15 watts from a prototype, while the ASML figures above describe milestones in the source-development timeline. Output alone does not reveal whether either system can deliver the uptime, collector performance, contamination control and wafer throughput required in a fab.
What separate Chinese research shows
A 2024 online publication, assigned to the 2025 issue of the Chinese Journal of Lasers, reports a 3.42% maximum conversion efficiency from a 1 μm solid-state-laser-driven tin-plasma EUV platform built by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics. The result was measured at a laser peak power density of 8.24×1010 W/cm2, with EUV radiation centered around 13.5 nm.
That peer-reviewed research is relevant technical evidence that Chinese teams can generate EUV efficiently in a laboratory platform. It is not evidence that FlintNano LPP-OXXO has achieved the same result, nor that either platform has been integrated into a production scanner.
Rank #4
South China Morning Post identified team leader Lin Nan as a former ASML researcher. ASML chief executive Christophe Fouquet was quoted as saying it is “always possible to generate some EUV light,” but that it would take “many, many years for China to make an EUV machine.” The distinction reflects the engineering distance between demonstrating radiation and operating a reliable lithography system in a semiconductor factory.
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There is no evidence in the reported FlintNano announcement of production-quality chips, ASML-level scanner throughput or commercial deployment. The relevant comparison is broader than source wattage.
Best Value
| Capability | What is established for FlintNano LPP-OXXO | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Source output | At least 15 W claimed by Langdao Silex | Determines how much usable EUV reaches the exposure system |
| Conversion efficiency | Above 2% claimed; no independent FlintNano measurement reported | Higher efficiency reduces the laser power and thermal burden needed for a given output |
| Repetition rate | 1–20 kHz claimed | Influences average power and potential exposure speed |
| Stability and endurance | More than 100 hours, 3% RMS plasma stability and about 5% energy stability claimed | Fabs require predictable operation over long production runs, not only a laboratory demonstration |
| Optics and stages | Not established in the announcement | Multilayer mirrors, alignment and high-speed stages determine whether wafers can actually be patterned |
| Contamination control | Not established | Tin debris can damage or reduce the performance of collector and projection optics |
| Wafer exposure and throughput | Wafer-exposure testing is claimed as a use; production results are not reported | Chipmakers need overlay accuracy, defect control, uptime and wafers per hour |
| Commercial delivery | Three-to-five-year estimate from the company for large-scale production | An estimate is not the same as a qualified, installed product |
Replacing ASML would require a complete, repeatable manufacturing platform: source, optics, stages, vacuum systems, masks, resists, metrology, software and service infrastructure. Even a successful domestic source would be an important building block rather than an immediate substitute for the full industrial ecosystem.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to watch next
- Independent measurements of EUV power, conversion efficiency and stability under sustained operation.
- Exposure results showing patterned wafers, critical-dimension control, overlay accuracy and defect performance.
- Demonstrated collector and projection optics with contamination-control data.
- Throughput, availability and maintenance figures from a scanner operating in a production-like environment.
- Evidence of installed systems, customer qualification and repeatable commercial delivery rather than a development timetable.
Bottom line
FlintNano LPP-OXXO is a noteworthy Chinese effort to localize a difficult EUV light-source technology. Its reported specifications and the separate 3.42% Chinese laboratory result show real progress in generating 13.5-nanometer radiation. They do not show that China has built a production EUV scanner or that ASML’s industrial lead has been broken. The prototype is best understood as a component milestone and a sign of expanding Chinese capability, not an immediate challenge capable of displacing ASML.
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