(In paragraph 9, please read Intel ( INTC ) is using 18A manufacturing

technology to test the high NA tools, not using high NA machines

to develop 18A manufacturing technology)

By Stephen Nellis

SAN JOSE, California, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Intel ( INTC )

on Monday said that the first two cutting-edge lithography

machines from ASML Holding are "in production" at its

factories, with early data indicating they are more reliable

than earlier models.

At a conference in San Jose, California, Intel ( INTC ) senior

principal engineer Steve Carson said Intel ( INTC ) has produced 30,000

wafers, the large discs of silicon that can yield thousands of

computing chips, in a single quarter with ASML's high numerical

aperture (NA) lithography machines.

Intel ( INTC ) last year was the world's first chipmaker to take

delivery of the machines, which are expected to produce smaller

and faster computing chips than earlier ASML machines. The move

was a shift in strategy for Intel ( INTC ), which lagged rivals in

adopting the previous generation of extreme ultraviolet (EUV)

lithography machines.

It took Intel ( INTC ) seven years to put those earlier machines into

full production, which contributed to it losing its lead to

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. ( TSM ) Intel ( INTC ) struggled

with the reliability of those previous EUV models in the initial

stages of production.

However, Carson said ASML's new high NA machines are about

twice as reliable as the earlier generation in initial testing.

"We're getting wafers out at a consistent rate, and that's a

huge boon to the platform," Carson said.

The new ASML machines, which print features onto chips using

beams of light, can also do the same work as earlier machines

using fewer exposures, saving time and money.

Carson said early results at Intel's ( INTC ) factories showed that

the high NA machines can do what took earlier machines three

exposures and about 40 processing steps with just one exposure

and a "single digit" number of processing steps.

Intel ( INTC ) is using its 18A manufacturing technology, which

is scheduled for mass production with a new generation of PC

chip later this year, to test the high NA tools.

It has said it plans to put the high NA machines into full

production with its next generation of manufacturing technology

called 14A, but has not given a mass production date for that

technology.