China can build advanced chips without EUV, but costs keep climbing

Export controls keep ASML's EUV tools out of China, so SMIC relies on multiple patterning with older DUV lithography. Fractilia CTO Chris Mack says four DUV masks cost more than one EUV mask, while extra passes add defects and inflate die size.

• Three 193nm DUV exposures cost roughly the same as one EUV exposure; four are already pricier
• SMIC's N+3 DUV process nears 5nm-class density but still trails TSMC and Samsung
• Morgan Stanley: CXMT produces about a third as many bits per wafer as Western rivals
• More patterning passes mean larger dies and lower yield per wafer