https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Te...t-gen-chipmaking-equipment-to-U.S.-consortium
TOKYO -- Canon said Thursday it is delivering the first unit of its next-generation lithography equipment to a U.S. group developing advanced semiconductors, introducing a new production technology that could cut costs as well as electricity usage.
The nanoimprint lithography machine is going to the Texas Institute for Electronics, a consortium supported by the University of Texas at Austin that includes Intel and other chip companies as well as public-sector and academic organizations. The equipment will be used by chipmakers for research and development.
Semiconductor manufacturing usually involves forming circuits using photolithography, in which patterns are projected onto a resin-coated wafer through exposure to intense light. Instead, nanoimprint lithography equipment stamps patterns on a mold into the resin.
Canon has been developing the technology since 2014. Sales of the equipment, which was created in partnership with Kioxia and Dai Nippon Printing, began last October.
While photolithography gear is equipped with arrays of lenses or mirrors, Canon's nanoimprint equipment has a simpler design that consumes about a tenth as much power. It can also form complex three-dimensional circuit patterns with a single stamp, and can handle the extremely fine circuits used in state-of-the-art logic chips.
Kazunori Iwamoto, Canon's deputy chief executive for optical products, said the company aims to sell around 10 to 20 units annually within three to five years.
Some hurdles remain to bringing nanoimprint lithography into broader use, including the need for more advanced technology to keep out fine dust particles that can cause defects. Partnerships with other companies to develop manufacturing materials that work with the technology will also be key for Canon.
Something or nothing?
TOKYO -- Canon said Thursday it is delivering the first unit of its next-generation lithography equipment to a U.S. group developing advanced semiconductors, introducing a new production technology that could cut costs as well as electricity usage.
The nanoimprint lithography machine is going to the Texas Institute for Electronics, a consortium supported by the University of Texas at Austin that includes Intel and other chip companies as well as public-sector and academic organizations. The equipment will be used by chipmakers for research and development.
Semiconductor manufacturing usually involves forming circuits using photolithography, in which patterns are projected onto a resin-coated wafer through exposure to intense light. Instead, nanoimprint lithography equipment stamps patterns on a mold into the resin.
Canon has been developing the technology since 2014. Sales of the equipment, which was created in partnership with Kioxia and Dai Nippon Printing, began last October.
While photolithography gear is equipped with arrays of lenses or mirrors, Canon's nanoimprint equipment has a simpler design that consumes about a tenth as much power. It can also form complex three-dimensional circuit patterns with a single stamp, and can handle the extremely fine circuits used in state-of-the-art logic chips.
Kazunori Iwamoto, Canon's deputy chief executive for optical products, said the company aims to sell around 10 to 20 units annually within three to five years.
Some hurdles remain to bringing nanoimprint lithography into broader use, including the need for more advanced technology to keep out fine dust particles that can cause defects. Partnerships with other companies to develop manufacturing materials that work with the technology will also be key for Canon.
Something or nothing?
