(1) For early disk drives, see
stepper motor.
(2) A photolithographic machine used in chip manufacturing. The stepper moves the wafer under the light and photomask a measured amount at a time until the entire wafer has been exposed. Stepper machines are used to create chips such as microcontrollers (MCUs), which are manufactured by the billions every year but do not require the most advanced technology. For state-of-the-art chips, photolithographic scanners are used, which step the wafer and scan the photomask (see
EUV machine). See
chip manufacturing.