What is Materials Platform?

Canon’s materials platform systemizes materials-related technologies so that they can be used and shared more readily throughout the company. The Materials Platform classifies the technologies acquired and strengthened by Canon in each process of materials developmentーfunctional design, synthesis and processing, analysis and evaluation, and manufacturingーinto four functional categories so that they can be used and shared more readily throughout the company.

Materials are a key element that impacts product performance. One of Canon’s strengths is that it can develop entirely in-house strategic materials that enhance the competitiveness of its products. For instance, when commercially available materials cannot meet performance requirements, we develop the materials ourselves, from molecular-level functional design to material synthesis, establishment of measurement and analytic techniques, and development of manufacturing technologies. Through this process, we have accumulated necessary technologies, knowledge, and expertise. We use this stockpile of systemized technologies to further evolve our products and rapidly accelerate new businesses creation. As such, the materials platform is a source of product competitiveness.

Application case study：
Adjusting light coating technologies for interchangeable camera lenses

Material technologies give our interchangeable camera lenses an enormous competitive edge that satisfies professional photographers.

When shooting in very bright locations, there is a likelihood of light reflections within the lens that degrade image quality. For example, shooting at a sports ground in midsummer or at a sunny beach can result in ghosting (an image containing artifacts that aren't actually there) or flaring (which causes a part of the photo image to whiteout). These aberrations occur because the refractive indices of light are significantly different in air and in lenses.

Canon has developed several lens coating technologies to control light and to suppress reflections. For example, Air Sphere Coating (ASC) forms a film that includes a certain percentage of air on the lens surface, and Subwavelength Structure Coating (SWC) covers the lens surface with nano-sized spike-like structures. With these coating technologies, we have achieved very high anti-reflection performance. We have applied these technologies to films that keep the field of view of lenses clear even in rain and to coatings that reduce glare on displays.

Application case study：
Printer ink technologies that produce vibrant colors

Canon manufactures many color-related products including cameras, printers, and displays. We work to faithfully reproduce colors by advancing color reproduction technologies and technologies that enhance coloration properties.

For example, inks used in printers is composed of "colorants," which are the raw materials for colors, and resins and solvents that enable the ink to adhere to the paper surfaces and to dry quickly. The more evenly the colorants are dispersed in the ink, the better the colors will turn out. Our materials functional design, which ensures uniform dispersion of colorants in ink at the nanometer-level, and our materials synthesis technologies, which uniformly mix colorants and resins, expand the gamut of reproduceable colors and produce rich color expressions. These technologies are being utilized to develop new ink colors that expand the brightness and saturation of printers and light-emitting elements in electronic camera viewfinders. In this way, the technologies are used to further advance our products and strengthen the competitiveness of our business.