Beyond technology

On a freezing cold February day in 2023, a Japanese engineer from DNP arrived at Mycronic’s headquarters in Täby, outside Stockholm. The Swedish winter was far colder than the mild February he had left behind in Tokyo. He had travelled halfway around the world with a clear mission: to find a measurement system for quality assurance of photomasks for his customers.

The search begins  

“I was facing a serious dilemma,” recalls Nobuaki Fujii, Senior Chief Engineer at DNP. “The pattern registration measurement systems used for low-to-mid-range semiconductor photomasks were aging, and I struggled to find a suitable modern replacement that matched our requirements. I could see a growing gap, so I began calling people and travelling around to find a better tool and system.”   
 
For Fujii, as a metrology specialist at DNP, assuring high nanometer-level accuracy is simply part of everyday life. Metrology – the science of measurement – involves verifying that microscopic patterns on photomasks are positioned exactly where they should be. Even a tiny error, if left undetected, could potentially lead to substantial losses across a production run.  
 
His employer, DNP – one of the world’s largest merchant photomask manufacturers with annual group sales of approximately $9.45 billion – has spent almost 150 years reinventing itself from a traditional printing company into a global technology leader.

Expectation found in Miami Blue  

During his search, Fujii heard that Mycronic was developing a registration measurement system for semiconductor photomasks. Browsing its website, he was drawn to Mycronic’s pioneering spirit of “bringing tomorrows electronics to life” – and something else caught his eye.  
 
“Their corporate color is very close to the Miami Blue of my favorite sports car,” he says. The stars seemed to align and he soon found himself flying to Sweden.  
 

On a February day in 2023, leaving DNP’s manufacturing site on the outskirts of Tokyo, Fujii arrived to Stockholm with an open and curious mind – and more than 20 pages of technical requirements. His goal was clear: to evaluate whether Mycronic could provide a modern metrology workhorse for DNP’s photomask manufacturing – one that combined modern software, exceptional reliability and competitive cost of ownership. 

Nobuaki Fujii, Senior Chief Engineer at DNP

Meeting the Mycronic team  

Mr. Fujii met an engaged team of engineers from the company’s Pattern Generators business and toured the factory. As they walked through the production floor, he noticed classic cassette tapes hanging from the test equipment. The engineers explained that they used the tapes as a simple visual aid when testing airflow inside the climate chamber. Smiling, they added: “These are tapes from Japan – it has to be Japanese”. “That bit of wit immediately struck a chord with me,” Fujii recalls.  

Trusting your inner voice 

“My ghost was whispering to me,” he says, borrowing an idea from the classic Japanese cyberpunk anime film Ghost in the Shell, in which the “ghost” represents the human consciousness and intuition that remain beyond pure logic. “These are the people who will actually pull this off and build the system we need.” Right then, he decided that this Nordic place would be the final destination of his long journey to find a tool. 
 
Over the next two days, the Mycronic team worked through Fujii’s 20-page list of requirements. Among those he met was Peter Henriksson, Global Systems Expert - Pattern Generators, whose experience with laser writers and photomask metrology proved invaluable.  
 
“It was a pleasure to finally meet Fujii-san in person after the COVID restrictions,” says Henriksson. “We’ve enjoyed a long relationship with DNP across different parts of our business. The timing was ideal, as we were developing the MMX Metrology System, which combines the proven technology from our SLX semiconductor mask writer and Prexision-MMS display photomask metrology system with the modern control platform.” 
 
“Peter and his team patiently went through every detail” says Fujii. “They asked remarkably insightful questions and challenged my own thinking with their insights. When I returned to Japan, I submitted an internal report recommending that we move forward with Mycronic.” 

Putting MMX to the test  

The following year, in 2024, Fujii was back in Stockholm to carry out the factory acceptance test of the MMX System, putting it through an extensive series of evaluation procedures requested by DNP. For DNP, there were never any shortcuts. As Fujii puts it: “Nothing is better than the verified measurement of it.”  
 
He also worked closely with Xueying Hai, Product Manager at Mycronic, to resolve technical and commercial questions. Hai saw DNP’s challenge as part of a broader industry problem. “Many installed systems have been in operation for 15–20 years, creating growing challenges around maintenance, obsolescence and long-term support” she says. “This creates a gap for mask shops that need modern, reliable metrology for mature-node applications without requiring the capabilities and investment associated with systems optimized for the most advanced photomasks.”

Building confidence 

From that point on, Fujii says, the project became less about evaluating a machine and more about building confidence in a new platform. "The Mycronic team consistently impressed us – not only with the MMX itself but the way they worked. There were moments that made me anxious," he laughs. "But every issue was resolved remarkably quickly. More importantly, they were completely transparent. They kept us informed, listened carefully and addressed problems openly as they arose." 

For Fujii, that openness mattered just as much as technical performance. “Semiconductor manufacturing is naturally conservative because the cost of making a mistake is extremely high. Introducing a completely new metrology platform isn't simply about specifications. It's about earning people's confidence." 

Winning that confidence took more than engineering excellence. As the photomask supplier, DNP also had a responsibility to demonstrate that the MMX-based process could meet its semiconductor manufacturing customer’s requirements. To get a green light, the platform had to pass an extensive customer qualification process of testing and evaluation together with them. 
 
While Fujii led the technical evaluation, Sayuri Watanabe, Overseas Sales Representative at DNP, became a key figure in guiding the platform through the customer qualification. Working closely with both the end customer and the Mycronic team, she helped translate strong technical performance into the evidence and confidence needed for approval.  

Strong results - with 99% availability

"Every semiconductor manufacturer is different," says Watanabe. "Mycronic listened, asked thoughtful questions and welcomed direct feedback throughout the process. That made it much easier for us to address our customer’s requirements and build confidence in adopting a new measurement platform. The MMX-based process was successfully qualified and the tool is now in active use.” 

The results have reinforced that confidence. DNP has now transitioned approximately 60% of the relevant photomask volume from its legacy tools to the MMX-based process, including photomasks for design nodes down to approximately 90 nm. Over the past 18 months, the system has operated with virtually no downtime. From January through July 2026, it achieved approximately 99% availability.

From collaboration to delivery  

Looking back, Fujii believes the collaboration succeeded because the two companies share a remarkably similar mindset. "DNP has reinvented itself many times over the years. We have a mindset of exploring and are open to new ideas, while maintaining very strict criteria. From my very first visit, I felt Mycronic also had a similar culture: open-minded, detail-oriented, innovative and committed. It simply felt like the right fit." 
 
The collaboration ultimately led to delivery of the first MMX System – both an important product milestone and an example of technology developed in close partnership with a customers.  

"Delivering our first MMX was a proud milestone for everyone involved," says Charlott Samuelsson, Senior Vice President Pattern Generators at Mycronic. "What made it even more special was doing it together with a customer who challenged us, trusted us and worked alongside us throughout the journey. That's the kind of partnership that drives us forward."

Beyond technical expertise   

For Fujii, the experience offered a lesson reaching far beyond photomask metrology. "Technical expertise was, of course, essential. But it wasn't what ultimately determined our success. It was the human side of things – the willingness to listen, to be transparent and to work towards a common goal.  

At some point, every development project has to move beyond what is already known. Nobody has all the answers from the beginning. What matters is that everyone is working towards the same goal. When both sides trust each other, keep listening and continue learning together, remarkable things can happen.” 

“Looking back, I believe trust was the most important ingredient of all." 

Text by: David Gray