Canon's Nanoimprint Technology Revolutionizes Chip Manufacturing with Affordable Solutions

Canon, a Japanese company, has been making significant investments in nano-imprint Lithography (NIL), a new chip manufacturing technology. The company plans to set the price of the new chip manufacturing equipment at a fraction of ASML's best lithography machine, thereby increasing its market share in the industry. Progress has been made in the field of lithography machines.

Nanoimprint technology is a low-cost alternative to extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) technology. Canon CEO Fujio Mitarai said the company's latest nanoimprint technology will open a way for small chipmakers to produce advanced chips.

Mitarai Fujio, 88, said the price of the product will be one digit less than ASML's EUV, but the final price has not yet been finalized.

ASML, headquartered in Veldhoven, the Netherlands, is the sole supplier of EUV lithography machines. Extreme ultraviolet lithography machines are the most advanced chip manufacturing machines in the world, each worth hundreds of millions of dollars. This equipment is the product of decades of massive research and investment and is critical for mass-producing advanced chips that are fast and consume less energy.

But only a few cash-rich companies can afford to buy EUV lithography machines. This brings hope to Canon's latest nanoimprint chip manufacturing equipment.

Canon shares are up 27% since the beginning of the year, while rival Nikon Corp. is up 24%.

Canon has been working on nanoimprint technology for nearly a decade with Japanese printing conglomerate Dai Nippon Printing Co. and memory chip maker Kioxia Holdings Corp. Unlike extreme ultraviolet lithography, which works by reflecting light, the nanoimprint technology Canon is working on prints circuit patterns directly onto wafers, creating chips that are said to have geometries comparable to the most advanced nodes, but at a slower speed. Much more.

The new equipment is expected to allow chipmakers to reduce their reliance on chip foundries, while also making it more possible for chip foundries such as TSMC and Samsung Electronics to mass-produce chips. Canon says the machine requires one-tenth the power of its EUV counterparts.

Mitarai Fujio does not believe that nanoimprint technology will replace EUV, but believes that it will create new opportunities and needs. Canon has already received many inquiries from customers.

Canon has previously focused on manufacturing ordinary chips. In 2014, it began to invest heavily in nanoimprinting technology and acquired Molecular Imprints Inc., which specializes in nanoimprinting technology. As one of TSMC's suppliers, Canon is building its first new lithography equipment factory in 20 years in Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo, which will be put into operation in 2025.

Mitarai Fujio has been Canon's president for nearly 18 years and has been Canon's CEO since 2006. This is his third term as president of Canon, with the last time he stepped down from day-to-day operations in 2016. Mitarai Fujio, born in 1935, was widely praised for rescuing the company from operating difficulties when he first took charge of Canon in 1995.

Canon recently appointed a group of new directors who will join the board next year, including 65-year-old Canon U.S. CEO Kazuto Ogawa, 59-year-old Industrial Group President Hiroaki Takei, and 61-year-old Senior Executive President Minoru Asada. A new group of executives is emerging.