US Investing up to $150 Million in Chip Laser Startup XLight

xLight has proposed using technology derived from particle accelerators to create a laser for ultraviolet lithography machines.

Employees work on the final assembly of ASML's semiconductor lithography tool with its panels removed, in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on April 4, 2019. Bart van Overbeeke Fotografie/ASML/Handout via Reuters

The U.S. government is to become a shareholder in xLight, an American startup developing free-electron lasers.

The Department of Commerce said on Dec. 1 that it has signed a non-binding preliminary letter of intent to provide up to $150 million in federal incentives to xLight through the CHIPS and Science Act, with the government taking an equity stake in the company in return.