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Hardware

Fire At ASML Could Worsen Global Computer Chip Shortage (theregister.com) 21

Posted by BeauHD from the too-early-to-tell dept.
ASML Holding has reported a fire at its factory in Berlin, Germany. No one was hurt and the fire was put out on Sunday night, but the incident could exacerbate the current global computer chip shortage. Here's what ASML said about the incident: The fire was extinguished during the night and fortunately no persons were injured during this incident. At this point it is too early to make any statement on the damage or whether the incident will have any impact on the output plan for this year. It will take a few days to conduct a thorough investigation and make a full assessment. As soon as we have such assessment, we will provide an update. The Register reports: ASML is the world's largest supplier of photolithography systems, the machines used to manufacture integrated circuits. Its units -- which cost tens of millions of dollars -- use lasers to etch components into blank silicon wafers, to within an accuracy of nanometers. Berliner Glas, where the fire was extinguished, was acquired by ASML in 2020, and says that over "1,200 employees" work at the firm, now known as ASML Berlin, developing and producing "several key components for ASML lithography systems, including wafer tables and clamps, reticle chucks and mirror blocks."

These are key components for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and deep ultraviolet (DUV) systems. EUV, in particular, which helps ASML's semiconductor-making clients print chips in much finer detail and at a lower cost, is seen as one of the drivers behind the firm's predictions of a $1 trillion semiconductor industry by 2030. The Dutch firm's customers include TSMC and Intel.

Berlin's fire department said last night that an automatic cleaning system had caught fire across an area of 200m^2 on the second floor of a three-storey "industrial" building in Waldkraiburger Strasse in Berlin's Britz district in the Neukolln area. Resources deployed at the site included a drone that could access the roof. The Berlin company's stated production area is 31,780m^2. A spokesperson confirmed to The Register that a part of the Berlin factory was closed -- but said other parts of the factory were still operating. The firm's stock price dipped 2 per cent on the news.
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Fire At ASML Could Worsen Global Computer Chip Shortage More

Fire At ASML Could Worsen Global Computer Chip Shortage

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  • I lost count back in the 90's and early 00's at how many times I heard distributors blaming "chip factory fires" for the reason memory was scarce and high priced.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Actually, this will have a small effect - in a few years.

      ASML makes the light sources for fabs. They only make 1, maybe 2 units per year - that's about the global demand for them and about as fast as they can make them. It's a billion dollar machine, after all. And yes, the market can't really sustain another company doing it.

      So a fire probably delays things a few months, but that really only affects new fabs.

      The fab fires are generally worse because fire contaminants go everywhere and it's got to be clean

      • ASML makes 30+ machines a year, many of them at the "future production standard" level.
        Once they're built, they're shipped and installed at the fab.
        Then they go into certification ("test production").
        This won't affect the current chip market, or the next quarter chip market - the effects will basically start to appear in six months.

        It all depends on how affected the machines are, they might only need the proverbial "wax job", or maybe critical (in terms of "no production ramp up possible") parts are broken.

    • I lost count back in the 90's and early 00's at how many times I heard distributors blaming "chip factory fires" for the reason memory was scarce and high priced.

      That's because chip fabbing uses horrendously dangerous chemicals and high temperatures.

      For example the famed ClF3 is but one of the many delightful reagents in use.

  • Seems a generic terminology for automatic. The only thing automatic not battery powered is air scrubbers.

  • Lab fire (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Retired Chemist ( 5039029 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @08:20PM (#62143467)
    Many years ago, I worked in the same research center as a group that was working on silicon wafers for making chips. They would clean the chips in polypropylene clean hoods with heated solvents and hydrofluoric acid. One day one of the heating units short circuited and set the hood on fire. Polypropylene melts below its combustion temperature, so the liquid burning material spread through the room setting additional hoods on fire and floating on the concentrated hydrofluoric acid and chlorinated solvents spilling out of the hoods. The whole building nearly went up and the fire responders all got new shoes because the acid had eaten away the ones they were wearing. Fortunately, no one got any HF burns, since they have a high fatality rate.

  • Quote from the website:

      "Veldhoven, the Netherlands
    Our global headquarters is our biggest R&D and manufacturing site."

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