Canon’s latest nanolithography system competes with Dutch company ASML, which dominates the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography market. ASML’s machines are used to produce cutting-edge chips used in the latest iPhones.
ASML's EUV technology is increasingly popular with the world's leading chipmakers because of its role in manufacturing semiconductors at 5nm and below. Nm refers to the distance between transistors on a chip, with the smaller the number, the more transistors there are, thus increasing the chip's power.
Canon says the FPA-1200NZ2C nano lithography machine can produce semiconductors equivalent to 5nm and even 2nm processes. The A17 Pro chip in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max is manufactured on a 3nm process.
TSMC and Samsung – the world's two largest chip foundries – are aiming to produce 2nm chips by 2025.
The lithography machine is key to printing the chip design onto the material that goes into the semiconductor. ASML’s printer uses ultraviolet light in the process, while Canon’s machine doesn’t need a light source of a particular wavelength, which reduces power consumption.
Canon's strengths in cameras, optics and printers are finding new uses in the semiconductor industry at a time when the world needs more chips to power technologies like artificial intelligence.
Despite being developed in 2004, nanolithography (NIL) technology has yet to take off in the world of sophisticated chips, in part because EUV printers perform better at printing chips.
Semiconductors are at the center of the tech war between the US and China due to their importance in areas such as AI and military applications.
Through export restrictions and other sanctions, the US seeks to deny China access to chips and key chipmaking equipment, keeping the world's second-largest economy behind in a technology it already lags behind.
The Dutch government has banned ASML from exporting EUV printers to China and has not sold any to the country, because they are needed to produce the most advanced chips.
However, Canon now claims that its NIL printer can help chipmakers produce semiconductors equivalent to 2nm, so it is likely to be under scrutiny as well.
Canon did not respond to CNBC's questions about the possibility of selling machines to China.
China is struggling to create lithography machine enterprises, supporting domestic industry to improve semiconductor production capacity.
Huawei has just launched a new smartphone with a 7nm chip, an advancement that would have been difficult to achieve without ASML's EUV printer. This raises questions about the origin of the chip and leads to other potential sanctions.
The US has warned China about plans to update regulations related to the sale of AI chips and semiconductor manufacturing tools, Reuters reported.
(According to CNBC)
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