ASML hopes the NXE:3400B will make it into volume-production fabs, but it appears the production-worthiness is based on a number of assumptions. EE Times has a great article about it over here.
The talks suggested that EUV commercial use is coming into focus. However, with real hurdles still ahead and no announcements of major purchase orders, skeptics still had plenty of breathing room.ASML is shipping the first 3400B this week and most, if not all, of the 14 EUV systems installed in the field are expected to take the upgrade. Each upgrade takes around three months and it's a process that reportedly makes open-heart surgery look easy.
The production-worthiness of the new ASML system is based on “a bunch of assumptions” including photo-resist materials effective at light exposures of 20 mJ/cm², said Chris Mack, chief technology officer of Fractilia. The fact is that current resists need 30 mJ/cm², he said.
What’s more, the road map still depends on a variety of other ASML and third-party tools arriving in synch, including pellicles to keep contaminating particles off of EUV wafers. “If the schedules slip a year, we will miss the 5-nm window,” he said.