Okay, so still: what is the company making the next-best chip making machines, using the next-best technology after EUV?

Nikon and Canon, in that order. Neither has managed to produce EUV machines, but they were somewhat competitive at higher nodes.

That's really interesting, I had not heard those names in this space before. I would have expected Applied Materials. Maybe Nikon and Canon are suppliers of optics to the more industry specific companies?

Nikon actually supplied the machines for Intel through their 10nm debacle. Canon has completely retired into the low end market, but used to be massive. You're right that I forgot about Applied Materials.

I think historically it's been a challenge mostly related to precision optics, given that semi production is more or less like exposing photographic paper from a negative, through a lens using a light source.

With EUV the challenge is the crazy difficulty of generating the required light source at the right intensity and focusing it. At that wavelength things behave differently, to say the least.

what if there are none that are really comparable? I don't think we can go back to those huge transistors

Well, in that case I want to know, so that would also be a valid answer to my question.

You can do a lot with 6502s, which are still being made. (And we can probably make better than that. 80486s?)