Computers denote data in bits – the famous 0s and 1s – using semiconductors. These are small physical devices that store these values and perform mathematical operations on them. The sum of all these operations is what allows the computer to compute.
We have powerful computers almost everywhere around us thanks to a technology called semiconductor lithography – the science of printing intricate circuits with extreme precision.
There are machines that automate this process, at a cost of anywhere between Rs 800 crore and Rs 1,600 crore. Only one company, ASML, headquartered in the Netherlands, makes them, giving it an absolute monopoly in a market worth $125 billion and rendering it the technology company with the highest market value in Europe.
