Demands for masks in 1.5μm generation

From late 1990s to 2000s, the demands for Flat Panel Displays (FPDs), represented by Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs), were mainly for larger size and lower price. Consequently, the development of FPD exposure tools was focused on expansion of exposure area and high throughput. Today, however, due to rapid growth of application for mobile devices, such as Smartphones and Tablet PCs, high resolution FPDs are being needed, and exposure tools are being demanded to constantly print finer pattern than before. In order To meet such needs, in 2013, Canon has released MPAsp-E813 and MPAsp-H803 series, which can resolve 2.0μm Line and Space (L and S) pattern and 2.5μm Contact Hole (CH) pattern. However, FPD resolution for mobile devices is still getting higher and higher, and now extremely high resolution of 1.5μm L and S is already in great demand.