#Applied Materials

Tagged Applied Materials · show all articles

A large wall flowchart showing five labelled process steps in sequence, each paired with a small physical sample, a final sample caught being placed to complete the chain

Who Actually Makes the Machines That Make the Chips

This cohort has profiled ASML, Applied Materials, Lam Research, KLA, and Tokyo Electron individually. Here they are side by side — the complete map of who builds the equipment behind every chip in this cohort.

By Brecht Corbeel · August 10, 2026 · 4 min read

A thin-film thickness gauge on a bright deposition tool showing its needle still climbing rather than settled, a wafer visible through a chamber window with a faint, still-thin film catching the light

AI Hardware & Semiconductors

Applied Materials Puts the Atoms Down. Nobody Else's Job Is Quite This One.

ASML gets the attention because it has no competitor. Applied Materials' job is just as essential and far less understood: depositing the precise atomic layers every chip is actually built from.

By Brecht Corbeel · August 10, 2026 · 4 min read

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