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Fast Technology, January 28, according to media reports, Canon executives in charge of the new lithography machine said in an interview that Canon lithography equipment using nanoimprint technology FPA-1200NZ2C target shipments this year or next year. In mid-October last year, Canon announced the launch of a FPA-1200NZ2C based on nanoimprint. Canon said that the equipment uses a solution different from complex traditional lithography technology and can manufacture 5nm chips. Canon said that the working principle of this set of equipment is different from that of ASML lithography machine. It does not use the principle of optical image projection to transfer the microstructure of integrated circuits to silicon wafers, but is more similar to printing technology, forming patterns directly through imprinting.

Compared to the current commercial EUV lithography technology, although the chip manufacturing speed of nanoimprint technology is slower than the traditional lithography method, but in 2021, Jiachan said that nanoimprint technology can significantly reduce energy consumption, and reduce equipment costs. The reason is that the process of nanoimprint technology is relatively simple, the power consumption can be reduced to 10% of EUV technology, and the equipment investment can be reduced to only 40% of EUV equipment. In addition, nanoimprint equipment can also make chip manufacturers reduce their dependence on ASML's EUV lithography machine, so that TSMC, Samsung and other wafer foundries can have a second route choice, can be more flexible for customers to produce small batches of chips.

However, Canon CEO Mitsui Fujio said in an interview that Canon may not be able to export these devices to China. "My understanding is that any export of technology over 14nm is prohibited, so I don't think we can sell it."