Canon shipped its latest lithography system for chip manufacturing to a Texas-based semiconductor consortium, aiming 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 most advanced logic semiconductors currently available, Canon noted in a statement.

Canon stated the first nanoimprint lithography (NIL) machine was scheduled to be sent yesterday (26 September) to the Texas Institute for Electronics, which will use it for R&D of advanced semiconductors and production of prototypes.

The consortium is supported by the University of Texas at Austin, providing open access to chip R&D initiatives and prototyping facilities to solve issues related to advanced semiconductor technology, Canon stated.

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 mould 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.