On July 15, 2026, ASML officially announced that Intel Foundry has successfully utilized ASML's high-numerical-aperture extreme ultraviolet (High-NA EUV) lithography technology to mass-produce certain processors from the third-generation Core Ultra series, codenamed "Panther Lake," on its Intel 18A process node. Intel thus becomes the world's first company to apply High-NA EUV technology to high-volume manufacturing of logic chips, securing a critical technological advantage in the advanced process race.

According to ASML, the Intel 18A production line in Hillsboro, Oregon, USA, has completed dual certification for High-NA EUV, and the yield for specific chip layers has reached parity with the existing NXE EUV platform. This marks the transition of High-NA EUV lithography systems from the laboratory validation phase to commercial production. Intel and ASML's collaboration dates back to 2024, when Intel integrated the industry's first commercial High-NA EUV lithography system and became the first company worldwide to pass acceptance testing for the second-generation TWINSCAN EXE:5200B system.

18A-Based Panther Lake and Nova Lake

As the first client system-on-chip manufactured on the Intel 18A process, Panther Lake adopts a scalable multi-die architecture and features up to 16 brand-new performance and efficiency cores, delivering over 50% CPU performance improvement over the previous generation. On the graphics side, it integrates a new Intel Arc GPU with 12 Xe cores, achieving more than 50% graphics performance uplift. The platform delivers up to 180 TOPS of computing performance, providing robust processing power for consumer and commercial AI PCs, gaming devices, and edge computing applications.

In addition to the early adoption of High-NA EUV on the 18A node, the latest industry analysis indicates that Intel is planning to shift a significant portion of production for the compute die of its next-generation core processor, Nova Lake, back to its in-house 18A process. This decision further validates the maturity and competitiveness of the 18A node. Meanwhile, Intel's 14A process node for external foundry customers is progressing steadily, with mass production expected in 2027. The 14A node will fully adopt High-NA EUV lithography for the first time, delivering a 30% increase in transistor density over the 18A node.

CONEVO Chips Distributor

CONEVO Elec is an independent distributor of electronic components, specializing in high-demand components such as FPGAs, memory, MCUs, data converters, and power management ICs. It provides customers with a one-stop supply chain solution covering chip selection, BOM optimization, and rapid logistics. This week's selected recommended IC chips are as follows.

● 5SGXEA4K2F35I2N – Intel Stratix® V GX FPGA, 420,000 logic units, 37 Mbit embedded memory, 432 I/Os, 1152-FBGA package.

● 5SGXEB6R2F43I3N – Intel Stratix® V GX FPGA, 597,000 logic units, 52 Mbit embedded memory, 600 I/Os, 66 14.1 Gb/s transceivers, 1760-FBGA package.

● E28F004BVB80 – Intel 4Mbit boot block flash memory, 4M×8 organization, 80 ns access time, 4.75V–5.25V power supply, 40-TSOP package.

● GT28F800B3T110 – Intel 8Mbit boot block flash memory, 512K×16 organization, 110 ns access time, 2.7V–3.6V power supply, 48-uBGA package.

● TE28F800C3BA90 – Intel 8 Mbit boot block flash memory, 512K×16 organization, 90 ns access time, 2.7V–3.6V power supply, 48-TSOP package.

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