Invest 50 billion! Canon expands production of lithography equipment!

According to reports, Canon will build a new semiconductor equipment factory in Tochigi Prefecture, eastern Japan, with the goal of doubling the current production capacity with a total investment of more than 50 billion yen (about 345 million US dollars). The factory plans to start construction in 2023 and start operations in 2025. .

Lithography is an indispensable core technology for the formation of semiconductor circuits. Canon currently has 2 semiconductor lithography equipment production bases in Japan, which can be used for chip manufacturing for applications such as automotive control systems. The new factory will be built on the basis of the existing factory. , which is the first new factory for lithography equipment built by Canon in 21 years.

Canon predicts that in 2022, the sales of semiconductor lithography equipment will increase by 29% over the previous year to 180 units, which will quadruple in the past 10 years. After the construction of the new plant, the total production capacity of the two bases will be approximately doubled.

In addition, Canon is also considering the production of next-generation equipment at the plant, using a technology called "nano-imprint" to develop a new generation of equipment that can make cutting-edge microcircuits at low cost.

At present, Canon, Dai Nippon Printing and Kioxia are jointly developing nano-imprint equipment. In academia, Japanese researchers have also demonstrated nano-imprint technology with a resolution of 10 nanometers. It is estimated that the use of nano-imprint to manufacture advanced processes The cost of the chip will be reduced by 40% compared with the existing EUV lithography machine, and the energy consumption will be reduced by 90%. It is expected to become an alternative process for EUV lithography.