Dear Reader,

Nikon has been using light to improve the world for a century, and we are proudly celebrating our 100^th anniversary year throughout 2017. Since our establishment as Nippon Kogaku K.K., Nikon has been committed to delivering innovative solutions based on optical and precision technologies to benefit society.

Serving as a great kick-off to the anniversary celebration, Nikon Precision hosted a record number of guests at the 14^th annual LithoVision symposium earlier this year. Experts from Huali Microelectronics Corporation, Intel, Tokyo Electron America, KLA-Tencor, Mentor Graphics, and Nikon examined opportunities and future trends in our industry. The presenters provided key perspectives on edge placement error challenges for scaling, and highlighted additional complexities presented by EUVL as well. Nikon also previewed strategic solutions that optimize alignment to support customers’ requirements for cost-effective lithography scaling. The next-generation Nikon immersion scanner employs the Inline Alignment Station (iAS) to optimize on-product overlay using all-shot alignment, without any impact to scanner throughput.

In addition to delivering industry-leading scanners for cutting-edge semiconductor applications, Nikon offers a suite of specialty steppers to address the unique requirements of a multitude of other markets. Widely known as “MEMS Steppers,” these systems have been very successful in meeting customers’ specifications for not only MEMS applications, but also back-end processing, LED fabrication, and more.

This edition of the Nikon eReview features many of the LithoVision presentations. We’re also pleased to spotlight a number of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and other Nikon group happenings. We welcome your feedback on how we can improve our products, programs, or services at npicom@nikon.com. We also invite you to participate in this edition’s eReview survey. We appreciate your suggestions on ways we can continue to increase the value of this newsletter.