Precision Equipment Business
Building a super-smart society
IC chips and high-resolution flat panel displays hold the key to further improvements in IoT and AI.
Through the development and production of manufacturing systems that expose circuit patterns of such components, Nikon is supporting the creation of a super-smart society.
Flat panel display (FPD) manufacturing process and FPD lithography systems
FPD lithography systems
FPD lithography systems project circuit patterns onto the surface of glass plates for controlling each pixel. Nikon provides diverse types of systems, from those employing the unique multi-lens system for handling large panels, to those for producing the small- and medium-sized panels such as those employed by smart devices. Nikon has achieved a high market share of FPD lithography systems by continuous technological development.
Semiconductor manufacturing process and semiconductor lithography systems
Semiconductor lithography systems
Semiconductor lithography systems reduce the size of circuit patterns and project them onto silicon wafers.
The systems, crucial to IC chip production, require an extreme precision down to 1 nm (one-billionth of a meter), and are regarded as the most precise machines ever developed.
Major products
FPD Scanner FX-103SH
The 10.5th generation FPD lithography system that has fully enhanced illumination and multi-lens systems that use Nikon's proprietary resolution enhancement techniques. It is optimized for manufacturing high-definition large-sized panels and mass-production of 4K and 8K TVs, as well as LCD panels for high-definition tablets and organic EL panels.
FPD Scanner FX-68S
The FX-68S supports the production of leading-edge, high-resolution, small- and medium-sized panels from Gen 6 plates. The scanner method enables improved productivity, excellent resolution (1.5μm) and high overlay accuracy simultaneously.
ArF Immersion Scanner NSR-S635E
The NSR-S635E adopts the Streamlign platform developed for high-volume 5 nm node application manufacturing. Integrating an inline Alignment Station, the NSR-S635E delivers remarkably high accuracy and productivity, providing overlay accuracy under 2.1 nm MMO and throughput of more than 275 WPH (96 shots) simultaneously. It greatly contributes to the stability of cutting-edge mass device production lines.
Alignment Station Litho Booster
The Litho Booster is an advanced Alignment Station that leverages proprietary Nikon technologies developed for semiconductor lithography systems. Absolute grid distortion values are measured quickly with ultra-high precision for all wafers prior to exposure. Correction values are then fed forward to the lithography system to greatly improve overlay accuracy without reducing throughput, contributing to enhanced yield and optimized equipment investment.
