What is Nanotechnology? - Nanotechnology - a catalyst for the fusion of technologies

Canon's longstanding involvement in nanotechnology

Could you tell me, then, about Canon's endeavors so far in the field of nanotechnology?
AnswerNanotechnology is frequently mentioned alongside IT and biotechnology as the cutting edge of industrial technology, but while all of these are without a doubt advanced, it's not as if they've just flowered overnight. At least for canon nanotech is not a particularly new area of technology.

For example, Canon first started to conduct R&D in nanotechnology around 1985. Nanotech was the base technology for R&D in scanning probe microscopes, ultra flat surface technology, and the terabit-sized storage that was a key objective at the time, and so it was only natural for Canon to get involved. Nowadays in the optical equipment and semiconductor manufacturing equipment fields, we're in fact already working on manufacturing precision and environmental control at the picometer (one billionth of a millimeter) order, one level smaller than the nanometer (one millionth of a millimeter). In short, nanotechnology may sound new, but for us it's already an established field of technology.

 Semiconductor manufacturing equipment

Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment


Are you saying that Canon's current nanotech endeavors, far from being steps out into the unknown, are rather an extension of the achievements Canon has made in the field up to now?
AnswerRight. But even though it deals with the same nano-level world, the nanotech that we're involved in now features a lot of new components that set it apart qualitatively from the nanotech of earlier days. The nanotech of yore was focused on transcending the limitations of earlier technology through investigating nano-level phenomena, the possibilities of their applicability and its significance, and through building up our knowledge and expertise. You could say it was "technology of the extreme" at that time, but now we see nanotech as a field thet brings new possibilities that were impossible to achieve with earlier technologies by using the achievements to date.


I see. For Canon, it's not a matter of tackling nanotech as a new field, but rather of leveraging nanotech to spawn new possibilities.