Canon has begun rolling out its nanoimprinted semiconductor manufacturing system in an attempt to revitalize its market position by positioning the technology as an easier and more accessible alternative to existing state-of-the-art tools. The Tokyo-based company's new chip-making machines can produce circuits equivalent to 5 nanometers in size using extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) technology, an area monopolized by industry leader ASML.
Canon expects that as technology continues to advance and be optimized, its equipment will be on track to achieve next-generation 2nm production levels, the company said in a statement on Friday. Like rival Nikon, Canon has lagged behind ASML in the EUV race, but its nanoimprint lithography approach may help the company close the gap.
Canon's equipment could also open up a new frontier in the U.S.-China trade war, as the only reliable way to make chips at 5 nanometers and below - EUV machines - is currently banned from entering China due to trade sanctions. The Japanese company's technology completely omits the photolithography process and instead directly imprints the required circuit patterns onto the silicon wafer. Because of its innovative nature, it is unlikely to be banned by existing trade restrictions.
A spokesperson for Canon declined to comment on whether the new equipment is subject to Japanese export restrictions.
Nanoimprint lithography has long promised to provide a low-cost alternative to lithography and has been promoted by memory chip makers such as SK Hynix and Toshiba Corp. Toshiba's former storage unit Kioxia tested Canon's nanoimprint machines before they reached commercial maturity. Canon must now prove that it has solved the problems it encountered in the past, such as high defect rates.
ASML, Europe's most valuable technology company, has posted five consecutive quarters of revenue growth and a surge in orders. The Veldhoven, Netherlands-based company is the preferred EUV supplier to the world's leading chipmakers and expects net sales to grow 30% this year.
Canon's shares have risen 26% this year, benefiting from the overall rise in Japan's stock market and increased demand for chip manufacturing equipment brought about by artificial intelligence applications.
Canon has so far focused mainly on products used to make less advanced chips, acquiring nanoimprint pioneer Molecular Imprints Inc in 2014. , and spent nearly ten years developing the technology. Canon, a supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSM), is building its first new lithography equipment factory in two decades in Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo, which is expected to be operational by 2025.
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