AMSTERDAM, June 3 (Reuters) - ASML, the

biggest maker of equipment used to manufacture semiconductors,

said on Monday it has opened a test laboratory for its High NA

EUV lithography equipment, together with Belgium chip research

firm Imec.

The laboratory in Veldhoven, Netherlands, years in the

making, will give leading chipmakers and other equipment and

materials supply companies an early chance to work with the 350

million euro ($380 million) tool, the first of its kind.

ASML dominates the market for lithography equipment, a

central step in the chipmaking process in which beams of light

are used to create the circuitry of chips.

Among chip manufacturers, only TSMC, Samsung, Intel ( INTC ) and

memory specialists SK Hynix and Samsung are able to manufacture

using ASML's current generation of extreme ultraviolet or EUV

machines.

The new High NA tool allows for up to 60% better resolution,

and is expected to lead to new generations of smaller, faster

chips.

ASML repeated on Monday that it expects customers to begin

commercial manufacturing with the tool in 2025-2026.

To date ASML has only shipped one other test machine, to

Intel ( INTC ) in the United States, which plans to use the tool in its

14A process in 2025.

ASML has orders for more than a dozen, though TSMC, its

biggest customer for EUV equipment, has said it does not need to

use High NA tools for its A16 chips, expected to enter

production in 2025.

($1 = 0.9223 euros)