According to Reuters Tokyo, Japan Economic News reported on Thursday that Japan Toppan Printing and IBM have cooperated in the development of masks. The mask is a glass plate used when producing a microchip.
The newspaper pointed out that the two companies will invest 20 billion yen (186.9 million US dollars) by 2007 to develop the next-generation 45-nanometer chip mask.
Photomasks are parts used to print circuits on silicon wafers when producing semiconductors.
Toppan Printing became the world's largest mask manufacturer after acquiring DuPont Photomasks for 71 billion yen in April. The newspaper pointed out that Toppan Printing will invest 10 billion yen before mid-2007 to build a factory in Japan.
The second largest printing company in Japan has already cooperated with Intel, a US chip company, to develop a mask for 45-nanometer chips.