The Canon machine that should have U.S lawmakers worried will start shipping this year or next year

The Canon machine that should have U.S lawmakers worried will start shipping this year or next year،

Last October, we told you about Canon's nanoimprint lithography (NIL) technology that stamps the circuit design onto a silicon wafer instead of etching it like extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines do. ASML. The Financial Times (via Tom'sMaterial) says Canon has been working on this technology for 15 years, and because it doesn't use a laser to create the pattern on a wafer, the process uses up to 90% less energy than a traditional EUV machine.

NIL technology can be used to build chips using a 5nm process node and ultimately could be used to help produce 2nm chips. The lithography machine is important when it comes to chip manufacturing because of the billions of transistors found inside a chip. For example, the 3nm A17 Pro chipset inside the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max contains 19 billion transistors. The circuit patterns etched on the edges must be extremely fine.

Here's why US lawmakers might be sweating over Canon's NIL machine. Currently, ASML, the only company in the world that manufactures EUV machines, is not allowed to ship these machines to China. It can and does deliver some of its deep ultraviolet (DUV) machines to the country. However, without the ability to obtain an EUV machine, China's largest foundry, SMIC, will not be able to build chips beyond the 7nm node it used to produce the 5G Kirin 9000s SoC used to power the Huawei Mate 60 series.

This is important because as the number of process nodes decreases, the transistors used on these chips become smaller, allowing more of them to be placed inside a chip. And the greater the number of transistors inside a chip, the more powerful and/or energy efficient that chip is.

Cannon's NIL machine could help China's SMIC produce 5nm chipsets for Huawei

But if Canon isn't banned from shipping NIL machines at minimum wage, the foundry might suddenly be able to produce 5nm chips, bringing the country closer to the 3nm components that TSMC and Samsung Foundry are releasing of their assembly line this year. TSMC's 3nm node is already used to produce the A17 Pro application processor (AP) used with the iPhone 15 Pro double.

The concern may be in vain, however, as it is unclear whether a manufacturing process can be developed relying solely on NIL technology. And NIL is not compatible with DUV or EUV, so using NIL machines may not work with the current flow foundries use to make chips.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Richard Windsor, director of research company Radio Free Mobile, said: “If nanoprinting technology was a superior technology, I think it would have already been up and running and on the market in volume. » While he may be right, there's nothing stopping SMIC from trying to make NIL work so it can build 5nm Kirin chips for Huawei. After all, Hiroaki Takeishi, head of Canon's optical product operations, told the Financial Times that NIL technology will enable the creation of simple, inexpensive cutting-edge chips. This sounds exactly like what SMIC has in mind.

Current US export rules prevent foundries using US technology from shipping cutting-edge chips to Huawei without obtaining a license and Takeishi says he looks forward to Canon starting shipping its NIL machines in 2024 and 2025.