Has the new semiconductor manufacturing equipment capable of rivaling ASML’s EUV lithography machines been shipped? Canon has announced that it will deliver its latest lithography platform, the FPA-1200NZ2C nanoimprint lithography (NIL) system for semiconductor manufacturing, to the Texas Institute for Electronics (TIE), a semiconductor consortium based in Texas, according to its press release.

It is worth noting that in October, 2023, the Japanese tech giant became the first company in the world to commercialize a semiconductor manufacturing system utilizing NIL technology, which creates circuit patterns using a different approach than traditional projection exposure technology, the press release notes. Now it has officially sealed the deal with a new client.

Canon states that with reduced power consumption and cost, NIL lithography equipment enables patterning with a minimum linewidth of 14 nm, equivalent to the 5 nm node that is required to produce most advanced logic semiconductors currently available. In addition to producing 5 nm logic chips, with further improvements, it is expected to be capable of manufacturing 2 nm products as well.

Citing an interview with Kazunori Iwamoto, Deputy General Manager of Canon’s Optical Equipment Division by Nikkei, a report by MoneyDJ notes that Canon aims to sell “a dozen units each year within 3 to 5 years”.

According to Canon’s explanation, in contrast to conventional photolithography equipment, which transfers a circuit pattern by projecting it onto the resist coated wafer, the new product does it by pressing a mask imprinted with the circuit pattern into the resist on the wafer like a stamp.

Because its circuit pattern transfer process does not go through an optical mechanism, fine circuit patterns on the mask can be faithfully reproduced on the wafer.

According to MoneyDJ, Canon has been collaborating with Japan’s major mask manufacturers, Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) and Kioxia, which was still Toshiba’s subsidiary at that time, to develop NIL technology for the past decade.

Citing Canon CEO Fujio Mitarai’s previous remarks with the Japan Times in 2023, MoneyDJ notes that Canon’s NIL technology provides small semiconductor manufacturers with the opportunity to produce advanced chips that are currently dominated by large corporations, with the price probably be “one digit less” than ASML’s extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems.

According to Mitarai, the power consumption of NIL equipment is only one-tenth that of EUV machines. While NIL may be difficult to replace EUV, he believes it will create new opportunities and demand, and many customers have already expressed interest.

Read more

• [News] Canon’s Nano-imprint Lithography Reduces Production Costs for Advanced Processes, Narrowing the Gap with ASML

(Photo credit: Canon)