At the N5 node 1mm^2 of a fully finished wafer is worth about 25 cents. This may have undergone hundreds of steps. If we assume the chips we're making can be done in 100 steps, one of these E-Beam Lithography machines costs the same amount as a scanning electron microscope, can run 24/7 for years, and there are zero costs to operate, and we need to break even in 2 years, then we need to charge about 450 times as much as a mass produced chip. Obviously under more realistic conditions, that multiplier would have to be way higher.
While for steady state production, a chip could be produced every couple of hours, no one is going to pay tens of thousands per chip for even a limited production run. If you are doing a one off prototype that justifies an extremely high pricetag, you have long lead times waiting for the chip to go through the various steps.
Honestly you'd be better off just making custom masks.
While for steady state production, a chip could be produced every couple of hours, no one is going to pay tens of thousands per chip for even a limited production run. If you are doing a one off prototype that justifies an extremely high pricetag, you have long lead times waiting for the chip to go through the various steps.
Honestly you'd be better off just making custom masks.