Pentax 2004 Annual Report Download - page 24

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22
R&D and New Businesses
The Hoya Group invests in R&D and business development in order to achieve sustainable growth through a continual
strengthening of business competitiveness and the securing of new growth capabilities.
Group R&D expenses, following a reorganization of the R&D structure in fiscal 2002, have grown slowly to equal approxi-
mately 4% of consolidated net sales. Three-quarters of this total was used for technological development in existing busi-
nesses, while the remaining 25% was directed toward new businesses. Principal areas of research in existing businesses
were aimed at further growth in the Electro-Optics division, expansion of the high-value-added eyeglass lens business in
Europe and the United States, and fostering of the Health Care division in expectation of growth in the field of ophthalmol-
ogy. Research is currently focused on hardware, but taking a long-term perspective Hoya is also continuing with research in
software and services.
Specific areas of R&D for existing businesses include photomask technologies for next-generation lithography, new products
and innovation in glass molded lens technology, greater density in glass memory disks, more advanced eyeglass lenses, and
treatments for cataracts. Hoya’s Electro-Optics division receives many requests from customers and users for joint develop-
ment of cutting-edge technologies. These projects are not only short- to medium-term new product development, but also
pioneer new possibilities in electro-optics, and present future business opportunities for Hoya.
Research in new business fields includes single-crystal silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors and devices, optical
network technology, and applications for specific kinds of light, such as excimer and ultraviolet.
In the field of lithography, essential for miniaturization of LSIs, research is being conducted on two next-generation radia-
tion sources-electron beams, and extreme ultraviolet (EUV), which offers an even smaller wavelength than that of argon
fluoride (ArF), the current leading technology. Hoya is continuing development of photomask applications for these new
radiation sources, in order to ensure a bright future for our mask blank and photomask businesses. In 2003 we succeeded
in producing prototypes of multilayer blanks and masks for EUV, as well as electron projection lithography (EPL) membrane
HOYA 2004-e 入稿用0705 04.7.22 8:01 PM ページ 23