The Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography (ARCNL) performs fundamental research, focusing on the physics and chemistry involved in current and future key technologies in nanolithography, primarily for the semiconductor industry.

While the academic setting and research style are geared towards establishing scientific excellence, the topics in ARCNL’s research program are intimately connected with the interests of the industrial partner ASML.

ARCNL is a public-private partnership established in 2014 by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the University of Amsterdam (UvA), the Vrije Universiteit (VU) and semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML. In 2022 the University of Groningen (RUG) joined as associate partner. The institute is located at Amsterdam Science Park.

ARCNL combines the best of two worlds. Being a research institute, ARCNL operates in the middle of the academic field. ARCNL shares its scientific output in peer-reviewed journals and at conferences. At the same time, the research questions are inspired by challenges from the semiconductor industry. Driven by Moore’s law, lithography technology developed and produced by ASML touches frequently on fundamental limits. Consequently, ARCNL researchers often find themselves working with extreme scientific challenges. ARCNL not only contributes to future technological developments but is also in the position to shorten the time between invention and possible application.