DUV lithography is a mature semiconductor manufacturing process that uses deep ultraviolet light to project circuit patterns onto silicon wafers. It is widely used for high-volume chip production and remains essential even as EUV lithography handles the smallest, most advanced features. DUV often relies on multiple exposure and patterning steps to create finer structures, which makes it slower than leading-edge methods but still highly useful and scalable.
In cyber security, DUV matters because chipmaking capacity is part of the trusted hardware supply chain. If defenders cannot verify where chips were made or how they were sourced, they face risks from counterfeit parts, illicit procurement, or tampered components in critical systems. Real-world defenses include supply-chain vetting, chain-of-custody controls, and export restrictions on sensitive manufacturing tools. For attackers, compromising the fabrication or distribution chain can create long-lived hardware risk that is harder to detect than software malware.