[HN Gopher] Canon aims to ship low-cost 'stamp' machine this yea...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Canon aims to ship low-cost 'stamp' machine this year to disrupt
       chipmaking
        
       Author : e-brake
       Score  : 23 points
       Date   : 2024-01-28 12:36 UTC (10 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.ft.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.ft.com)
        
       | e-brake wrote:
       | https://archive.is/J9t2e
        
       | Someone wrote:
       | FTA: _"Canon's nanoimprint lithography -- a technology under
       | development for more than 15 years but which the company says is
       | only now commercially viable -- stamps chip designs on to silicon
       | wafers rather than etching them using light."_
       | 
       | It seems everything old is new again.
       | https://thechipletter.substack.com/p/leaving-arizona:
       | 
       |  _"there was a reason the 6800 was expensive. It was made using
       | 'contact lithography', where the photomask, containing the image
       | that is to created on the silicon die, comes into direct contact
       | with the silicon wafer. This inevitably led, over time, to damage
       | to the photomask, reducing yields and eventually rendering the
       | expensive photomask unusable. Making a low-cost version of the
       | 6800 would be impossible without a more cost-effective
       | manufacturing process."_
       | 
       | Reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_lithography and
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoimprint_lithography, that
       | problem doesn't seem to have been solved, but of course, it's
       | possible that the lower cost more than compensates for it.
        
         | frangolino wrote:
         | Contact (photo)lithography and this nanoimprint lithography are
         | not the same thing.
         | 
         | The 2nd is like embossing, the 1st is like stencil (like other
         | types of photolithography, but the photomask touches the
         | wafer).
        
       | ksec wrote:
       | For those who are not aware, and I think it is important to Note,
       | Canon is not a new entry to the industry. They were actually
       | competing with ASML before they gave up in the early 10s.
       | 
       | They are aiming at 5nm in 2025 and extend it to 2nm in 2027+. I
       | guess in real world terms you can add at least 1 year to it even
       | in the most optimistic scenario.
       | 
       | I dont expect many logic chips will be using it, given the sunk
       | cost involves in all the new and older design with current tools
       | and manufacturing. But if it works it would be _very_ exciting
       | for DRAM and NAND.
        
       | audunw wrote:
       | Obligatory Asianometry video:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UdNB3ZY4Ks
        
       | lencastre wrote:
       | I'm no expert but $ASML might be a strong buy
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2024-01-28 23:02 UTC)