Carl Zeiss SMT

Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH comprises the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group of ZEISS and develops and produces equipment for the manufacture of microchips. The company is majority owned by Carl Zeiss AG, with a 29.4% minority stake by ASML Holding.
The headquarters of the group are located in Oberkochen, Germany, with additional sites in the German cities Jena, Wetzlar, Rossdorf and in Karmiel, Israel. As of September 2013, the total workforce in the five sites is approximately 2,900.<ref name="smt.zeiss.com/facts and figures"></ref> About 30 percent of all employees work in the area of Research and Development. 
History.
In 1968, ZEISS supplies the optics for a circuit printer for the first time. About nine years later, the world's first predecessor to a modern wafer stepper, produced by David Mann (later GCA), is equipped with optics from Carl Zeiss.
In 1983, the first lithography optics from ZEISS are used in a wafer stepper from Philips. Just under ten years later, ZEISS and Philips carve-out company ASML enter into a strategic partnership.
The Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group is established by ZEISS in 1994. Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH and its subsidiaries Carl Zeiss Laser Optics GmbH and Carl Zeiss SMS GmbH followed in 2001. The construction of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology plant of ZEISS in Oberkochen commences during the same year, and reaches completion in 2006. In 2010, the semiconductor area achieves revenues of over a billion euros for the first time.<ref name="smt.zeiss.com/"></ref> Effective October 2014, the subsidiaries Carl Zeiss Laser Optics and Carl Zeiss SMS GmbH were merged into Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH.
Product areas.
Semiconductor Manufacturing Optics.
The ZEISS business group develops and produces optics for semiconductor production. Its core business is lithography optics that form the centerpiece of a wafer scanner. The development and manufacture of projection optics and the development of illumination systems take place at the Oberkochen site, while the production of most types of illumination system is located in Wetzlar. In addition to lithography optics, the business group is specialized in numerous other optical products, including optical components for lasers that are used as light sources for lithographic systems.
Photomask Systems.
This area develops and manufactures systems that analyze and repair defects on photomasks and measure and optimize defined mask properties. The photomask contains all the structure information that will be imaged on the wafer with light. 
Further reading.
Carl Zeiss is a top supplier of critical subsystems, in: WaferNEWS, July 7/2003, pp. 4