Abstract:     Continuous breakthroughs of industrial key core technologies are the key for promoting innovation to lead the construction of modernized industrial system, promoting new-quality productivity. However, few studies have paid attention to the important theoretical and practical issue of how meso-organizations bridge the macro-ecology and micro-agent to promote the process mechanism of continuous breakthroughs in industrial key core technologies. This study focused on photolithography, a representative key core technology of the IC industry, and took ASML as the research object, by using the case study method to systematically explore: how latecomers can continuously make breakthroughs in industrial key core technologies and go beyond catch-up through co-evolution with innovation consortium. We found that: facing the stepwise goal of lithography technology, based on the process logic of "Motivation (M)-Strategy (S)-Innovation Consortium (C)", ASML and its innovation consortium continue to co-evolve, which drives the continuous breakthrough of lithography technology through the three value co-creative mechanisms. This process consists of the synergy of the main body of "distribution of power", integration of knowledge in "industrial traction", and "core periphery" interest co-generation. During this process, the innovation consortium evolves from the embryonic, upgrading, consolidation stages to the symbiosis stage, while ASML has gradually accomplished the catching-up to the leading position in the lithography market. This research will deepen the theoretical research on the breakthroughs and catch-up in industrial key core technologies from the perspective of industrial innovation ecology, and provide important inspirations for promoting industrial technological innovation system and capability, and accelerating the development of new-quality productivity.

Key words: industrial innovation ecology, innovation consortium, industrial key core technology, ASML, catch-up, new-quality productivity