Members' Profiles

CANON Inc.

1. Endeavors in Micromachine Technology
At Canon, we provide our customers with reliable products
in a wide range of fields, including imaging equipment frompersonal cameras to broadcasting and professional uses;
business machine such as printers, copying machines, andscanners; manufacturing and ultraprecision equipment for
semiconductors and flat panel displays such as mask aligners
and etchers; and medical equipment such as X-ray digital
cameras and fundus cameras. These key components for ourproducts in-house incorporate a variety of innovativetechnologies that adopt micromachine technology, and ensurethat Canon always remains ahead of the competition.
Our R&D organizations are actively developing new
products featuring micromachine technologies. To accomplish
this, we are collaborating with experts in a variety of fields,
including material development, simulation analysis, physicalanalysis and chemical analysis.

Makoto Shibata
General Manager, Inkjet Technology Development Center

correction which is essential for achieving high throughput innext generation maskless exposure systems employing a multielectron beam, and is useful to large items and small
production. Micromirrors are expected to be applied in laser
scanning displays and optical switches in next generation.

2. Development of Micromachine Technology
1st ElectrodeA specialist in high-precision processing, Canon was early to
begin developing devices with micromachine technology, suchas sensors and optical devices. The representative example ofour MEMS devices is the print head lie at the heart of our inkjet
printer, developed by our original technology in the 1970s. To
produce micro fine droplet accurately, the nozzles, the mostimportant part of the print head (Fig.1), must be made highly
precise. Combining our micromachine technology and materialtechnology into every nozzle manufacturing step, Canon has
developed the original nozzle manufacturing process to produce
highly precise integral nozzles and eliminated the use ofbonding process. This technology also enables high-density
nozzle packing and leads to the breakthrough in printheadperformance. We have named this technology as FINE (Fullphotolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering).
At Canon, we are also actively engaged in the developmentof processing technologies for MEMS in next generation
products, such as the Einzel lens arrays (Fig.2) andMicromirrors (Fig.3). Einzel Lens arrays perform aberration

1 st electrode

200µm
2µ00m

Shieldmembrane
80 φ

100µm

2 nd separateelectrode2nd Separate Electrode160 φShieldmembrane

50µm

3 rd electrode100µm
unit: µm

Einzel Lens
e-beam

3rd Electrode

1st
2nd
3rdFig. 2 Einzel lens array
Torsional
Beam
MirrorFixed
End

VerticalMode

Horizontal
Mode

Torsional
Mode

Microscopic image ofthe fabiricated torsional mirror

Torsional
Beam
Fixed
End
Cross-sectional image ofthe torsional beam

50µm
Print headFig. 3 Micromirror

Microscopic image of nozzle arrayorifice

3. Future Endeavors

nozzleink inlet

heaterSilicon wafer

Schematic cross-sectional
image of nozzle

The importance of micromachine technology will continue
to increase for its use in product discrimination. We willcontinue to cultivate this technology in pursuit of new potential,
and then the ongoing development of reliable products ensure
to satisfy our customers.

10µm
Cross-sectional SEM imageof nozzle

Fig. 1 Inkjet head6