DNP研发的模板材料可使1.4奈米制程能以奈米压印（nanoimprint）而非EUV完成，其能耗可较既有先进半导体制造减少90%，有望在2027年量产。EUV曝光占晶片制造成本的30%至50%，且设备单价高达数亿美元，电力需求亦因线宽缩小而攀升。相较之下，Canon自2023年销售之奈米压印设备单价仅数十亿日圆（1亿日圆约合640万美元），功耗远低于EUV。DNP的新模板突破了奈米压印被认为无法适用2奈米以下制程的限制，使1.4奈米压印成为可能。

1.4奈米晶片主要应用于AI资料中心与自动驾驶，Samsung与TSMC目标分别于2027年、2028年量产。两者皆展现对奈米压印的兴趣，但现有厂房以光刻机建置，转换制程具高边际成本，要求奈米压印展现足够经济诱因。奈米压印的主要挑战包含模板与晶圆直接接触形成电路时的污染风险及速度瓶颈，因此虽有企业如Kioxia导入测试，但尚未有量产采用。

ASML目前掌握全球光刻装置90%市占，Canon与Nikon早已失势。若奈米压印市场扩大，材料供应商如DNP与Fujifilm将受惠，后者已宣布进入相关材料市场。Canon于2024年向Texas Institute for Electronics交付首台奈米压印设备，显示替代EUV的生态系正处于早期成形阶段。

DNP has developed a template material enabling 1.4-nanometer chip production via nanoimprint rather than EUV, cutting energy use by an estimated 90% and targeting mass production in 2027. EUV lithography currently accounts for 30%–50% of chipmaking costs, with equipment priced at several hundred million dollars and rising power demand as feature sizes shrink. Canon’s nanoimprint tools, sold since 2023, cost only several billion yen per unit (1 billion yen ≈ $6.4 million) and consume far less power. DNP’s template overcomes assumptions that nanoimprint cannot support nodes below 2 nm, enabling 1.4 nm patterning.

Next-generation 1.4 nm chips will power AI data centers and autonomous vehicles. Samsung and TSMC aim for mass production in 2027 and 2028. Both are exploring nanoimprint, but existing fabs are optimized for photolithography, raising switching costs and requiring strong economic justification. Key obstacles include defect risks from template–wafer contact and throughput limitations, which is why firms like Kioxia use nanoimprint only for testing, with no mass-production adoption yet.

ASML controls 90% of the photolithography market, after outpacing Canon and Nikon in miniaturization. A future nanoimprint market could benefit materials suppliers such as DNP and Fujifilm, the latter planning to enter with wafer-applied materials. Canon shipped its first nanoimprint system in 2024 to the Texas Institute for Electronics, signaling the early formation of an ecosystem that could eventually challenge EUV dependence.