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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Technology
Helen Sullivan

A journey through the hyper-political world of microchips

China ASML United States Donald Trump Semiconductor Taiwan TSMC
An illustration showing the path of extreme ultraviolet light as it travels from source to silicone wafer
The path of extreme ultraviolet light as it travels from source (bottom right) to silicone wafer, shown in an illustration. Illustration: ASML

A small town in the Netherlands hosts the only factory that produces the only chip-making machines that generate a type of light found nowhere naturally on Earth: extreme ultraviolet, a light emitted by young stars in outer space.

This light, known as EUV, is the only way to make one of the world’s most valuable and important technologies at scale: cutting-edge semiconductor chips. The factory is forbidden from selling its EUV machines to China.

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