Canon shipped its latest lithography system for chip manufacturing to a Texas-based semiconductor consortium, aiming to take market share from leader ASML by simplifying the most expensive step in chipmaking.
The system enables patterns with a minimum line width of 14nm, equivalent to the 5nm node process required to produce most advanced logic semiconductors currently available, Canon noted in a statement.
Canon stated the first nanoimprint lithography (NIL) machine was scheduled to be sent yesterday (26 September) to the Texas Institute for Electronics, which will use it for R&D of advanced semiconductors and production of prototypes.
The consortium is supported by the University of Texas at Austin, providing open access to chip R&D initiatives and prototyping facilities to solve issues related to advanced semiconductor technology, Canon stated.
Canon explained traditional photolithography equipment transfers a circuit pattern by projecting it onto the resin “applied to the wafer to burn a circuit”, while the NIL approach involves stamping a mould of the design into it.
The Japan-based company unveiled the machine in 2023, promoting a simplified process and lower cost of chipmaking by stamping designs rather than burning using ultraviolet light.
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