Nikon 2004 Annual Report Download - page 11

In฀the฀latter฀half฀of฀2005,฀Nikon฀will฀introduce฀
to฀the฀market฀a฀mass-produced฀ArF฀immersion฀
stepper฀that฀has฀an฀N.A.฀greater฀than฀or฀equal฀
to฀1.0,฀which฀is฀a฀world฀fi฀rst.
wafer purifi฀ed฀water
Michio฀Kariya
Executive฀Vice฀President,
Member฀of฀the฀Board,
President฀of฀Precision฀Equipment฀Company
Our฀development฀programs฀continued฀to฀focus฀
on฀keeping฀Nikon฀in฀the฀forefront฀of฀next-generation฀
lithography.฀Our฀immersion฀lithography฀technology,฀
which฀introduces฀purifi฀ed฀water฀between฀the฀projec-
tion฀lens฀and฀the฀wafer,฀promises฀to฀improve฀lens฀
resolution฀signifi฀cantly.฀We฀are฀on฀course฀to฀start฀
selling฀the฀world’s฀fi฀rst฀mass-produced฀stepper฀with฀
a฀lens฀of฀N.A.฀greater฀than฀or฀equal฀to฀1.0฀in฀the฀lat-
ter฀half฀of฀2005.฀In฀response฀to฀demand฀for฀further฀
miniaturization฀of฀semiconductor฀devices,฀I฀believe฀we฀
will฀strengthen฀the฀position฀of฀Nikon฀as฀the฀supplier฀of฀
choice฀for฀the฀most฀advanced฀steppers.
We฀also฀made฀signifi฀cant฀progress฀during฀the฀year฀
ended฀March฀2004฀in฀the฀fi฀eld฀of฀LCD฀steppers.฀We฀
began฀shipments฀of฀the฀FX-61S/63S฀sixth-generation฀
model,฀which฀can฀handle฀the฀largest฀glass฀substrates฀
in฀the฀world,฀currently฀used฀in฀the฀production฀of฀LCD฀
panels฀for฀large฀televisions.฀We฀have฀developed฀an฀
original฀multi-lens฀scanning฀system฀in฀our฀LCD฀step-
pers฀that฀promises฀to฀come฀into฀its฀own฀as฀panel฀sizes฀
continue฀to฀increase.฀We฀are฀now฀developing฀ma-
chines฀capable฀of฀handling฀even฀larger฀LCD฀panels.
Besides฀immersion฀lithography฀technology,฀which฀
will฀soon฀produce฀an฀ultra-high฀N.A.฀ArF฀stepper฀
range,฀our฀highly฀effi฀cient฀development฀programs฀are฀
focusing฀on฀other฀approaches฀to฀achieving฀new฀levels฀
of฀performance฀in฀next-generation฀lithography.฀The฀
latest฀fi฀eld฀is฀Extreme฀Ultraviolet฀Lithography฀(EUVL),฀
which฀aims฀to฀realize฀even฀greater฀device฀miniaturiza-
tion.฀We฀are฀engaged฀in฀the฀development฀of฀EUVL฀
systems฀as฀part฀of฀a฀special฀national฀research฀project฀
conducted฀by฀Extreme฀Ultraviolet฀Lithography฀System฀
Development฀Association฀(EUVA).฀Full-scale฀product฀
development฀is฀now฀under฀way฀to฀fi฀nish฀an฀initial฀
system฀by฀2006.
Our฀second฀main฀aim฀was฀to฀expand฀our฀customer฀
base.฀In฀addition฀to฀our฀lineup฀of฀i-line,฀KrF฀and฀ArF฀
steppers,฀we฀are฀working฀to฀satisfy฀a฀broad฀range฀
of฀customer฀requirements฀by฀offering฀second-hand฀
machines฀as฀well฀as฀rapid-response฀after-sales฀services.฀
This฀approach฀started฀to฀deliver฀results฀in฀the฀year฀
ended฀March฀2004.฀We฀are฀also฀aggressively฀expanding฀
our฀business฀by฀developing฀capabilities฀in฀applications฀
support฀as฀well฀as฀hardware.฀This฀approach฀allows฀us฀
to฀monitor฀the฀operating฀condition฀of฀our฀machines฀
remotely฀and฀use฀the฀data฀to฀propose฀optimized฀solu-
tions฀to฀individual฀customers.฀Such฀peripheral฀services฀
promise฀to฀provide฀us฀with฀another฀source฀of฀earnings.
Our฀third฀strategic฀aim฀was฀to฀focus฀our฀efforts฀on฀
fundamental฀structural฀reform฀of฀all฀Precision฀Equip-
ment฀Company฀operations.฀Our฀main฀objective฀was฀to฀
speed฀up฀operational฀throughput฀to฀reduce฀delivery฀
lead฀times,฀as฀measured฀from฀lens฀cutting฀and฀fi฀nish-
ing฀to฀completion฀of฀machine฀installation,฀to฀a฀maxi-
mum฀of฀six฀months.฀We฀achieved฀this฀goal฀during฀the฀
year,฀thereby฀cutting฀lead฀times฀in฀half.฀This฀not฀only฀
allows฀us฀to฀respond฀to฀rapidly฀changing฀market฀condi-
tions฀better฀but฀also฀promises฀to฀translate฀into฀lower฀
costs,฀reduced฀inventories฀and฀stronger฀fi฀nances.฀At฀
the฀same฀time,฀we฀are฀working฀to฀cut฀development฀
lead฀times.฀We฀are฀using฀prior฀risk฀evaluation฀and฀
checks฀to฀eliminate฀as฀far฀as฀possible฀any฀dead-ends฀in฀
development฀processes.฀This฀involves฀adopting฀a฀new฀
management฀style฀for฀development฀functions.
The฀preparatory฀actions฀we฀took฀in฀the฀year฀ended฀
March฀2004฀put฀us฀in฀a฀good฀position฀to฀benefi฀t฀as฀
capital฀investment฀levels฀start฀to฀recover฀in฀the฀semi-
conductor฀market฀in฀the฀year฀ending฀March฀2005.฀Our฀
sales฀strategy฀is฀based฀on฀generating฀higher฀profi฀t-
ability฀as฀the฀stepper฀market฀revives.฀Our฀goal฀for฀the฀
year฀ending฀March฀2005฀is฀to฀become฀profi฀table฀at฀the฀
operating฀level.
N S R - S 3 07 E
ArF฀excimer฀stepper฀equipped฀with฀N.A.฀
0.85฀projection฀lens
N S R - S 3 0 8 F
ArF฀excimer฀stepper฀equipped฀with฀a฀
super-high฀N.A.฀0.92฀projection฀lens฀and฀
that฀has฀a฀resolution฀of฀less฀than฀65฀nm
F X - 6 3S
LCD฀stepper฀that฀supports฀sixth-generation฀
large฀plate฀sizes
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