According to Japanese media Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun on October 20, Canon plans to increase its lithography equipment capacity for semiconductor back-end processes by 50% from current levels by 2029. Canon is developing i-line lithography equipment for advanced packaging and has developed a large-substrate lithography tool with 0.8μm resolution, capable of handling 510×515mm substrates with high alignment accuracy and a large field of view.
Seiya Miura, head of Canon's semiconductor equipment division, said in an interview that maskless direct-write patterning is not yet a direct competitor to i-line lithography in RDL production.
ICgoodFind Summary: Advanced packaging demand for back-end processes like RDL is driving lithography capacity expansion. Canon's 2029 timeline aligns with growth in panel-level packaging and large-substrate lithography. The back-end lithography equipment race moves slower than front-end, but the direction is clear.
