A Chinese company has successfully manufactured optical chips without using UV lithography equipment, potentially offering a ray of hope to the Chinese semiconductor industry, which is unable to import ASML equipment.
Chinese company
Chinese start-up claims nanoimprint tech can mass-produce optical chips without ASML gear | South China Morning Post
https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3356349/chinese-start-claims-nanoimprint-tech-can-mass-produce-optical-chips-without-asml-gear
Chinese startup claims photonic chip production without DUV lithography, says nanoimprint process cuts costs by 90% — 8-inch wafers produced without conventional optical lithography | Tom's Hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/chinese-startup-claims-photonic-chip-production-without-duv-lithography-says-nanoimprint-process-cuts-costs-by-90-percent-8-inch-wafers-produced-without-conventional-optical-lithography
PRINANO is a company that conducts research and development on a semiconductor manufacturing technology called nanoimprint lithography (NIL). In September 2025, they reported delivering semiconductor manufacturing equipment to a customer in China, making it clear that their research had progressed from the theoretical stage to the stage of actually manufacturing products.
On June 5, 2026, PRINANO announced on the social media platform WeChat that it had 'successfully manufactured 8-inch optical chip wafers using NIL (Natural In-Layer) technology.' Furthermore, they stated that 'we were able to manufacture optical chips without using DUV lithography equipment. Costs were reduced to about one-tenth, and optical chips used in optical communications and LiDAR can now be manufactured at the wafer level,' highlighting the advantages of NIL over DUV lithography equipment in optical chip manufacturing.
Generally, the manufacturing of miniaturized semiconductors requires DUV or EUV lithography equipment. The market for state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing equipment is largely dominated by ASML, a company based in the Netherlands. However, the Dutch government, at the request of the US government, has restricted the sale of ASML products to China. As a result, semiconductor manufacturing equipment is difficult to obtain in China, and PRINANO's announcement that it was able to manufacture chips without DUV lithography equipment could be a ray of hope for Chinese companies.
PRINANO is promoting its 'PL-AS vacuum air-cushion nanoimprint lithography' used to manufacture optical chips, stating that it 'is designed for wafer manufacturing and achieves a resolution of 10nm or less.' However, no verification data on production volume or yield has been disclosed, and it remains unclear how long it will take before commercial mass production can begin. An analyst at SemiAnalysis, which analyzes the semiconductor market, points out that 'PRINANO's NIL is unlikely to shake ASML's dominance. NIL may be inexpensive, but true cost advantages depend on throughput, template manufacturing, yield, and process integration, and it is unlikely that NIL will replace EUV lithography equipment in cutting-edge chip manufacturing.'
It should be noted that PRINANO is not the only company researching NIL. For example, Canon, Dai Nippon Printing, and Kioxia are jointly developing NIL, and verification for using NIL in memory manufacturing is underway at Kioxia's Yokkaichi plant.
Nanoimprint technology opens the door to the near-future digital society | Canon Global
https://global.canon/ja/business/group/industry/2018.html
Furthermore, regarding China and UV lithography technology, there are reports that 'they have successfully reverse-engineered an EUV lithography system in cooperation with a former ASML engineer, and a prototype has already been completed.'
Reports indicate China has successfully reverse-engineered an EUV lithography system in collaboration with a former ASML engineer; a prototype is already complete, suggesting that domestic production of high-performance semiconductors may be imminent - GIGAZINE
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in Hardware, Posted by log1o_hf