SpaceX said it will partner with Tesla on an initial $16.8 bln investment to
build a Terafab chip facility in Texas. Posts and a blogger’s read of Terafab
materials suggest the plant may adopt free-electron laser (FEL) technology as a
lithography light source to challenge ASML’s LPP EUV; Musk replied with FEL FTW
and the facility layout reportedly supports that reading. FEL proponents cite
higher power, coherence, tunable wavelength and potentially better energy
efficiency, and in theory it could push lithography wavelengths from 13.5nm
toward ~6nm or shorter. Commercialization hurdles remain significant: large
accelerator systems, capital cost and production stability are the main
obstacles.
