December 11, 2009--A recently published report from iRAP, Inc., Nanolithography Equipment for IT, Electronics and Photonics – A Technology, Industry and Global Market Analysis, the overall market for wafers and nanofabrication equipment is expected to grow at 11% a year for the next five years, from an estimated $65.8 billion in 2009 to $111 billion in 2014.

Researchers say the goal of the study was to determine the current and future financial and technological state of the nanofabrication equipment industry for the IT and electronics businesses, as well as the influence of related nanotechnologies. One of the objectives was to determine how many organizations in each nation were involved in different types of nanofabrication equipment. The study provides a review of the activities of the top organizations developing nanofabrication equipment and techniques for IT and electronics.

Nanofabrication equipment is the enabling technology for IT and electronic devices now being sold, says the report, and this will continue to be so.  iRAP researchers say "there is no other technology on the horizon that can compete with nanofabrication equipment in the ability to create the most powerful microprocessors and memory chips for computers, electronic devices and other applications. The industry is considered critical to continued economic development in the U.S. as well as Japan, China, Korea and the member states of the European Union."

Nanoscale lithographic apparatus are indispensible tools used to manufacture integrated circuits (ICs), flat panel displays, optoelectronic and photonic devices as well as micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), all involving nanoscale structures. The advancement in photolithography technology has been the key to the rapid development of the semiconductor industry. "Countless innovations and progress in this field will continue to drive technological development in the semiconductor industry," says the report. "Nanofabrication equipment has been used to create integrated circuits in the 65nm to 45nm range, and companies are now moving to manufacturing computer chips and memory chips in the 32nm range."

In 2008, nanofabrication apparatus enabled semiconductor manufacturers to transform more than $11.4 billion worth of silicon wafer material into more than $425 billion worth of semiconductor, photonic, opto-electonic and MEMS material devices for use in computers and electronic devices, which in turn constituted a global market valued in excess of $1.38 trillion dollars, plus related services valued at $5 trillion dollars globally. Semiconductor and electronics manufacturers spent roughly $80 billion in 2007 and $74 billion in 2008 for silicon wafers, materials and equipment which allowed them to manufacture integrated circuits at scales to 45nm, and they are now beginning to buy equipment to manufacture integrated circuits at the scales of 32nm and 22nm.

The equipment for deposition of materials onto silicon wafers represented 19% of the nanofabrication market and was valued at $11.4 billion for 2008. Lithographic equipment was 20% of the market, valued at $12.4 billion. Beam technology and light sources associated with lithography and semiconductors represented 9% of the market and were valued at $5.594 billion. Testing of semiconductor components and processes represented 17% of the nanofabrication market with a value of $10.56 billion. Metrology was 11% of the 2008 market, with a value of $6.83 billion. Other processes were 6% of the 2008 market, with a value of $3.730 billion.

The iRAP study identified over 200 companies and institutions involved in as   manufacturers and developers as well as researchers. These companies, says iRAP, "are driving the technology to the next generation of nanofabrication in the semiconductor industry."