Canon Ships Its First New Chipmaking Machine

Canon shipped its brand-new lithography system for chip manufacturing to a Texas-based semiconductor consortium. The vendor aims 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 the most advanced logic semiconductors currently available, Canon said in a statement. The first nanoimprint lithography (NIL) machine was scheduled to be sent to the Texas Institute for Electronics, which will use it for the R&D of advanced semiconductors and production of prototypes.

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 mold 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.