According to the Nikkei News, Canon plans to invest 50 billion yen to increase production in mask aligner and double the output of semiconductor manufacturing equipment in Japan. It is reported that Canon will build a new semiconductor equipment factory in Tochigi Prefecture, eastern Japan, with the goal of doubling the current production capacity, with a total investment of more than 50 billion yen (about 345 million US dollars). The factory is scheduled to start construction in 2023 and start operation in 2025. Lithography is an indispensable core technology for the formation of semiconductor circuits. At present, Canon has two production bases of semiconductor lithography equipment in Japan, which can be used for chip manufacturing of automotive control systems and other applications. This new factory will be built on the basis of the existing factory, which is the first new lithography equipment factory built by Canon in 21 years. Canon predicts that the sales volume of semiconductor lithography equipment will increase by 29% to 180 units in 2022 compared with the previous year, and it will increase fourfold in the last 10 years. After the construction of the new factory, the total production capacity of the two bases will increase to about 2 times. In addition, Canon is also considering producing the next generation of equipment in this factory, and using the technology called "nano-imprint" to develop a new generation of equipment that can be made into cutting-edge fine circuits at low cost. At present, Canon Company is developing nano-imprint equipment together with Japan Printing and Armor. In academic circles, Japanese researchers have demonstrated nano-imprint technology with a resolution of 10 nanometers. It is estimated that if nano-imprint is used to manufacture advanced process chips, the cost will be reduced by 40% and the energy consumption will be reduced by 90% compared with the existing EUV mask aligner, which is expected to become an alternative process for EUV lithography.