Applied NanoTools
Applied NanoTools is an Edmonton-based nanofabrication foundry using 100 keV electron beam lithography to manufacture X-ray optics, silicon and silicon nitride photonic integrated circuits (NanoSOI), and metalens prototypes, serving academic and industrial researchers worldwide via MPW and dedicated runs.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersEdmonton, Canada
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Applied NanoTools does
Applied NanoTools Inc. is a privately held Canadian nanofabrication foundry headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, operating since the early 2010s out of the Nanotechnology Research Center (NRC) building, where it accesses a 25,000 sq.ft. cleanroom and over $84M in specialized scientific and fabrication equipment. The company's core technology is a 100 keV electron beam lithography system used to manufacture three product lines: X-ray and EUV optics (Fresnel zone plates with outermost zone widths down to 12 nm, calibration standards, transmission gratings, phase rings, and holders); integrated photonic circuits via the NanoSOI Fabrication Service, offering silicon (220 nm SOI) and silicon nitride (400 nm) platforms with 60 nm and 120 nm minimum feature sizes respectively and TE waveguide loss of 1.2 dB/cm; and a newer Metaoptics Foundry Service for metalens and metasurface prototyping. All three lines rely on electron beam lithography's superior line-edge roughness and negligible stitching errors to deliver resolution and loss performance that standard optical lithography cannot match.
The company operates a B2B foundry model with a self-service online design submission portal (NanoSOI Design Center), supported by Process Design Kits for KLayout, Luceda Photonics, and Alcyon Photonics, plus a library of free online engineering tools (Zone Plate Calculator, X-Ray Ray Tracer, NanoSlice GDS Viewer). Revenue is generated through Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) runs every 6-8 weeks with published standard pricing, fully custom dedicated runs on a quotation basis, direct sales of X-ray optic products and holders, and ancillary measurement, design, and packaging services. Pricing is quote-based for custom work, with credit card surcharges, NET 30/60 terms for established customers, and prepay requirements for new buyers. The customer base is primarily academic and industrial researchers in X-ray/EUV imaging and silicon photonics, with over 317 publications since 2016 citing ANT fabrication; shipping is global via FedEx with DAP Incoterms. Distribution is direct-only with no resellers, and marketing runs through technical website content, a quarterly newsletter, and PDK update communications.
Strategically, ANT has remained bootstrapped with only ~$370K in disclosed funding across 2012-2013, and management is founder-led under CEO and founder Mirwais Aktary with a 1-10 person team. Recent years have shown product-line broadening rather than geographic or volume scaling: silicon nitride MPW launches (2021), gold electrical traces and PDK updates (2024), Dream Photonics FaML partnership and Metaoptics Foundry launch (2025), and continuous silicon nitride etch improvements. The company competes in advanced nanofabrication against larger merchant foundries but differentiates on resolution, turnaround (3-8 weeks), MPW accessibility, and bundled design-to-packaging services.
Applied NanoTools firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Applied NanoTools
- Legal name
- Applied Nanotools Inc.
- Website
- https://appliednt.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Applied NanoTools is an Edmonton-based nanofabrication foundry using 100 keV electron beam lithography to manufacture X-ray optics, silicon and silicon nitride photonic integrated circuits (NanoSOI), and metalens prototypes, serving academic and industrial researchers worldwide via MPW and dedicated runs.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Applied NanoTools industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Photonic Nanofabrication Foundry
- NAICS
- Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing (334413), Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing (33441)
- SIC
- Semiconductors & Related Devices (3674), Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827), X-Ray Apparatus & Tubes & Related Irradiation Apparatus (3844)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Optoelectronic / Photonics Foundries (Silicon Photonics/LED/Laser) (HDAHACAG)
Keywords
Where Applied NanoTools is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Edmonton
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Applied NanoTools business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations
Revenue model
- Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) Fabrication Services: Batched fabrication runs where multiple customers share wafer costs. Standard processes with set pricing available online. Turnaround times of 3-8 weeks depending on complexity. Primary revenue stream for photonic integrated circuits.
- Dedicated/Custom Fabrication Runs: Fully customized fabrication for projects requiring special options not available in MPW runs. Custom quotations for each project. Flexible timelines. Higher revenue per project but lower volume.
- X-Ray Optics and Components: Sale of Fresnel zone plates, calibration standards, gratings, phase rings, and holders. Both standard products and custom designs available. One-time product sales.
- Measurement, Design, and Packaging Services: Additional services including optical measurement (1530-1565 nm wavelength range), fiber V-groove array packaging, and custom design services for photonic components.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | MPW Runs - Batched fabrication with standard pricing |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Dedicated/Custom Runs - Fully customized fabrication |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Standard X-Ray Optics Products |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Applied NanoTools product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Applied Nanotools operates a photonics and nanofabrication foundry using 100 keV electron beam lithography to manufacture silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and silicon nitride photonic integrated circuits, X-ray and EUV optics (Fresnel zone plates, calibration standards, gratings, phase rings), and metalenses/metasurfaces. Services include multi-project wafer (MPW) runs, dedicated custom fabrication runs, optical measurement, fiber V-groove packaging, and photonic design services, supported by an online design submission portal.
Product overview
Applied Nanotools Inc. is a photonics and sensors company specializing in design and fabrication of X-ray optics and integrated photonic circuits. The product portfolio comprises three core offerings: (1) X-Ray Optics including Fresnel zone plates, resolution calibration standards, transmission gratings, phase rings, and related holders; (2) Integrated Photonics via the NanoSOI Fabrication Service providing silicon and silicon nitride MPW and dedicated runs with electron beam lithography; and (3) Metaoptics Foundry for metalenses and metasurfaces. The company supports its fabrication services with online design tools including the NanoSOI Design Center, GDS Viewer, Zone Plate Calculator, and X-Ray Ray Tracer, along with measurement and packaging services.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- NanoSOI: Silicon-on-insulator photonic integrated circuit fabrication service using 100 keV electron beam lithography for rapid prototyping and low-to-mid volume production.
- Metaoptics
Products and services
- X-Ray Zone Plates
- Resolution Calibration Standards
- Gratings
- Phase Rings
- NanoSOI Fabrication Service Foundry service for rapid prototyping and low-to-mid volume production of silicon photonic integrated circuits using 100 keV electron beam lithography. Provides 60 nm minimum feature sizes, multi-project wafer (MPW) runs, dedicated custom runs, and optional oxide cladding, metallization, and deep trench processes.
- Metalenses Compact, lightweight, high-performance flat optical components with high-resolution subwavelength features (down to 100 nm) for visible and near-infrared spectra. Manufactured using electron beam lithography, suitable for AR/VR, LiDAR, biomedical endoscopy, computational imaging, and optical neural networks.
- Metaoptics Foundry Service Metalens foundry service for rapid turnaround prototyping of metasurfaces and metalenses using high-throughput electron beam lithography. Supports amorphous silicon on fused silica and niobium oxide options for visible and near-infrared wavelengths, with five-week turnaround and MPW runs under development.
- Measurement, Design, and Packaging Services Complementary services including photonic design services, optical measurement in the 1530-1565 nm wavelength range, optical packaging with fiber V-groove arrays, and custom photonic layout and electronics requests.
- Silicon Nitride Photonic Platform Silicon nitride (SiN) photonic integrated circuit platform with 400 nm device layer thickness, 4.5 μm buffer oxide, and minimum feature size of 120 nm. Available via MPW runs with tri-layer metallization and edge coupler options, expanding the NanoSOI service to the SiN platform.
Quantifiable outcome
- 1.2 dB/cm TE straight waveguide propagation loss
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Applied NanoTools
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Applied NanoTools technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Feature5 records
Applied NanoTools partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Dream Photonics Inc.coreDream Photonics and Applied Nanotools partnered to provide Facet-attached Micro Lens (FaML) option to all NanoSOI users. Dream Photonics attaches microlenses to ANT edge coupler chips using two-photon lithography, enabling low-loss coupling (<3 dB) to mode-matched microlens-attached fibers. Provides expanded field emission from 3μm to 25μm for relaxed alignment tolerance.
- Luceda PhotonicscoreLuceda Photonics and Applied Nanotools released the Luceda PDK for the ANT NanoSOI process, enabling support for photonic integrated circuit layout design using the Luceda Photonics Design Platform for submission to ANT's 220 nm silicon MPW runs.
- SOITEC S.A.minorSOITEC S.A. is the supplier of SOI (Silicon-on-Insulator) wafers used in the NanoSOI fabrication process. The standard MPW runs use SOITEC 220 nm silicon device layer wafers with 2.0 μm buried oxide and 725 μm handle wafer.
- WaferProminorWaferPro is the supplier of silicon nitride wafers for the NanoSOI silicon nitride platform. Applied Nanotools fabricates SixNy on WaferPro wafers for the 400 nm silicon nitride device layer with 4.5 μm buffer oxide.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)minorAWS provides cloud hosting for Applied Nanotools' online design submission system. Designs are temporarily stored on AWS cloud hosting before being securely transferred to physical hard drives at ANT's Edmonton facility. Standard security practices including SSL/TLS encryption are used.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Applied NanoTools competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Imec: Imec is a leading European semiconductor R&D center operating a silicon photonics MPW foundry (iSiPP50G) and advanced nanofabrication capabilities. It overlaps with Applied Nanotools in photonic IC prototyping and e-beam nanofabrication, but at vastly greater scale, capability, and subsidy.
- Tower Semiconductor: Tower Semiconductor is a large specialty foundry offering RF, analog, and silicon photonics wafer fabrication services. Its silicon photonics platform overlaps with Applied Nanotools' NanoSOI service but Tower operates at much higher volume and broader process portfolio.
- AIM Photonics: AIM Photonics is a US-based public-private photonic foundry consortium offering silicon photonics MPW and dedicated runs with broader process capabilities and government backing. It competes with Applied Nanotools for academic and SME photonic IC prototyping customers in North America.
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland: VTT operates a photonic IC foundry with silicon and silicon nitride MPW services and offers X-ray optics fabrication. It is comparable to Applied Nanotools across both the NanoSOI-style foundry and the X-ray optics product lines, though at larger scale and with broader mandate.
Direct peers
- SMART Photonics: SMART Photonics is a Dutch foundry offering indium phosphide (InP) photonic integrated circuit MPW services. It is comparable to Applied Nanotools as a specialty photonic foundry serving the academic and SME prototyping segment, though with a different material platform (InP vs SOI/SiN).
- Metalenz: Metalenz is a US-based metalens company commercializing metasurface optics for sensing and AR/VR applications. It is comparable to Applied Nanotools' Metaoptics Foundry as both serve the metalens/metasurface market, with Metalenz focused on commercial product and ANT on foundry services.
- CompoundTek: CompoundTek is a Singapore-based silicon photonics foundry offering MPW and dedicated wafer runs for SOI photonic ICs. It is directly comparable to Applied Nanotools as a specialty photonic IC foundry serving academic and commercial prototyping customers in the same SOI/silicon nitride space.
- Ligentec: Ligentec is a European (Germany/Switzerland) photonic foundry specializing in silicon nitride and low-loss waveguide fabrication with MPW runs. It is a direct peer to Applied Nanotools' NanoSOI silicon nitride platform, serving a similar academic and prototype customer base.
- IHP Microelectronics: IHP Microelectronics is a German research foundry offering silicon-germanium BiCMOS and photonic integrated circuit MPW services. It serves a comparable academic and industrial prototyping customer base in Europe with photonic IC fabrication capabilities.
- Cornerstone (SiEPIC fab partner network): Cornerstone (formerly SiEPIC fab) is a Canadian-affiliated silicon photonics prototyping service associated with the SiEPIC program at UBC. It overlaps with Applied Nanotools in offering SOI photonic IC prototyping to academic researchers in Canada and globally.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Applied NanoTools social profiles
Digital presenceApplied NanoTools financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Applied NanoTools leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Applied NanoTools funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Applied NanoTools M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Applied NanoTools
What does Applied NanoTools do?
Applied Nanotools operates a photonics and nanofabrication foundry using 100 keV electron beam lithography to manufacture silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and silicon nitride photonic integrated circuits, X-ray and EUV optics (Fresnel zone plates, calibration standards, gratings, phase rings), and metalenses/metasurfaces. Services include multi-project wafer (MPW) runs, dedicated custom fabrication runs, optical measurement, fiber V-groove packaging, and photonic design services, supported by an online design submission portal.
Is Applied NanoTools a public or private company?
Applied NanoTools is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Applied NanoTools founded?
Applied NanoTools was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Applied NanoTools based?
Applied NanoTools is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Applied NanoTools make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) Fabrication Services are the primary driver. The others are dedicated/Custom Fabrication Runs, X-Ray Optics and Components and measurement, Design, and Packaging Services.
Who are Applied NanoTools's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Imec, Tower Semiconductor, AIM Photonics and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Direct peers are SMART Photonics, Metalenz, CompoundTek, Ligentec, IHP Microelectronics and Cornerstone (SiEPIC fab partner network).
Does Applied NanoTools have an API?
No public API is recorded for Applied NanoTools.
What industry is Applied NanoTools in?
Applied NanoTools's product category is Photonic Nanofabrication Foundry. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAHACAG, Optoelectronic / Photonics Foundries (Silicon Photonics/LED/Laser). Its NAICS code is 334413 and its SIC code is 3674.