Martin Van den brink on EUV economics
From Oral History of Martin van den Brink · · Computer History Museum
“If you calculate the tool cost then tool was costing you below 10 million and D U DUV tool but an EUV tool was creeping already towards 100 million and we we thought this was too expensive. So then the world was saying if EUV not comes how do we make sure we shrink double patterning was the answer.”
On , Martin Van den brink, Cofounder at ASML, spoke about EUV economics during Oral History of Martin van den Brink on Computer History Museum.
About Martin Van den brink
In a September 2025 oral history interview with the Computer History Museum, Martin van den Brink, president and CEO of ASML, discussed his early life, career, and the company's technological trajectory. He described being diagnosed with dyslexia and following a specialized technical education path in the Netherlands before studying physics. Van den Brink recounted ASML's early reliance on suppliers due to its small size, stating, "We relied on suppliers as much as we can not because we felt this was the smartest way of doing it, but because when you are small with 50 people, your capability is simply limited and there's only one way to go fast: looking for friends." Van den Brink also addressed ASML's research and development spending, noting, "We have a simple rule: it needs to be between 10 and 20% of revenue on R&D. We're spending four billion a year in R&D." He expressed confidence in the future of lithography, saying, "This may sound a bit arrogant but I think the technology of lithography is unlikely to determine the end point. It's very likely that the whole chip roadmap will continue to scale at least for the foreseeable future at least 10 years from now, 15 years from now." Additionally, he offered a critical view of current AI development, stating, "The current AI is almost lazy and prefers to extend the model size and add learning cycles rather than simplify the model."