➀ Substrate, a Peter Thiel-backed startup, raised $100 million to compete with ASML in lithography tools using X-Ray technology;

➁ Its proprietary particle accelerator-based X-Ray lithography claims to produce wafers at a fraction of ASML's EUV cost, achieving 2nm resolution;

➂ The team includes experts from TSMC, Applied Materials, and U.S. National Labs, with validation from defense and intelligence-linked investors like In-Q-Tel.

➀ A secretive American startup named Substrate has emerged with the aim of challenging ASML and TSMC in the semiconductor industry.

➁ Substrate has developed a new chipmaking machine that uses particle acceleration for lithography, a crucial process for etching microscopic circuitry onto silicon wafers.

➂ The company aims to compete with ASML, whose equipment is currently the only option for making advanced processors.