July 7, 2003 – Tokyo Ohka Kogyo has started mass production of photoresists compatible with argon fluoride (ArF) lasers, which create circuit lines on silicon wafers. ArF lasers can etch lines as thin as 90nm, compared to krypton fluoride lasers which can etch down to 110nm.

The company is investing 3 billion yen ($25 million) to set up new production lines and inspection facilities at its two plants in the Kanagawa and Fukushima prefectures, in the hopes of capturing half of the domestic photoresist market by the end of 2003.