Weekend Long Read: China’s Chipmaking Breakthrough Too Good to Be True

The Chinese internet has been abuzz recently about news of a breakthrough by Chinese scientists developing an ultra-deep ultraviolet light source for photolithography — the key process for making semiconductors. The furor was exacerbated by claims that construction of a lithography machine factory is underway in Xiongan, near Beijing.

As a science writer and academic, many people have asked me to validate this news. So let’s set the record straight: The principle of this new light source is indeed real, but it was only proposed back in 2010 — the technology is still in the proof-of-concept phase and is at least 15 to 20 years away from practical application.