Every cutting-edge AI chip in existence — from Nvidia’s H100 to Apple’s M4 — was manufactured using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. Without it, the AI revolution simply couldn’t have happened. Now investors can get direct exposure to this critical technology through the EUV ETF.
What Is EUV Lithography?
Extreme ultraviolet lithography uses light with a wavelength of just 13.5 nanometers — roughly 40 times shorter than visible light — to etch billions of transistors onto silicon wafers with extraordinary precision. It’s the foundational process behind every chip built at 7nm and below, which covers virtually all of today’s high-performance AI, smartphone, and data center chips.
ASML Holding (ASML) is the only company in the world that manufactures EUV machines, each costing over $200 million and requiring parts from more than 5,000 suppliers across 30 countries. That near-monopoly makes ASML — and by extension, the EUV ecosystem — one of the most strategically significant chokepoints in the global technology supply chain.
The EUV ETF provides concentrated exposure to companies in the EUV lithography ecosystem, including equipment makers, materials suppliers, and the chipmakers who depend on EUV processes. Key holdings typically include:
ASML Holding (ASML) — the world’s sole EUV machine manufacturer and the ETF’s dominant position
TSMC (TSM) — the world’s largest chipmaker and the biggest consumer of EUV machines
Samsung Electronics — the second-largest EUV user, competing with TSMC at leading-edge nodes
Applied Materials (AMAT) and Lam Research (LRCX) — adjacent semiconductor equipment companies that support EUV processes
JSR Corporation and Shin-Etsu Chemical — photoresist and materials suppliers critical to EUV manufacturing
Why Is EUV Trending Now?
The EUV ticker page on ETF.com is seeing 2,635 monthly page views — making it one of the fastest-rising ETF tickers on the site. Three catalysts are driving the surge in investor interest:
1. AI chip demand is exploding. Every major AI chip — from Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture to AMD’s MI300 — requires EUV lithography to manufacture. As AI infrastructure spending accelerates, demand for EUV capacity is growing in lockstep.
2. Geopolitical scarcity. The U.S. and its allies have blocked ASML from selling EUV machines to China, creating a hard technological ceiling on Chinese AI ambitions. This makes EUV exposure effectively a bet on Western semiconductor supremacy — a theme that has resonated strongly with investors since 2022.
3. The DRAM halo effect. The explosive rise of the DRAM ETF (+263.5% in page views this month) has investors exploring the broader AI chip manufacturing ecosystem. EUV is the natural next step — the technology that makes DRAM and logic chips at the leading edge possible.
How does the EUV ETF stack up against the more established semiconductor plays investors already know?
EUV vs. SMH: The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) offers broader semiconductor exposure with over 25 holdings. EUV is more concentrated, with heavier ASML weighting — making it a higher-conviction bet on the equipment layer rather than chip designers.
EUV vs. SOXX: The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) tracks an index of 30 U.S.-listed semiconductor companies. Because ASML is Dutch-listed, SOXX offers less direct EUV exposure than the EUV ETF itself.
EUV vs. DRAM: Where DRAM targets AI memory chips specifically, EUV targets the manufacturing infrastructure that makes all advanced chips — memory and logic — possible. They’re complementary rather than competing.
The Investment Case
The bull case for EUV is straightforward: every advanced chip requires EUV lithography, and there is exactly one supplier of the machines that do it. As AI drives exponential demand for more powerful semiconductors, EUV lithography becomes more — not less — strategically essential.
The risks are real, however. The ETF carries heavy concentration in ASML, which means any regulatory change, trade dispute, or demand slowdown at major customers like TSMC could create outsized volatility. EUV machines are also extraordinarily capital-intensive, meaning the industry is sensitive to semiconductor capex cycles.
For long-term investors who believe in the AI infrastructure buildout, EUV offers something few ETFs can: exposure to the single most irreplaceable step in the chip manufacturing process.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
This article was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by ETF.com staff.
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