To All,
Semiconductor International Gives Best Product Award to Applied
Materials' Ultima HDP-CVD System
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 15, 1997--
Ultima HDP-CVD Enables USG for STI and IMD Applications
for 0.35 Micron and Below Device Generations
Semiconductor International magazine has chosen Applied Materials' Ultima HDP-CVD system for an ''Editor's Choice Best
Product'' award for its superior performance in semiconductor manufacturing.
The system was the only CVD (chemical vapor deposition) product selected for the award, which was given in a ceremony on
October 13 in Austin, Texas.
''We are honored that the Ultima HDP-CVD system has been chosen for this award,'' said Thomas St. Dennis, president of
Applied Materials' Planarization and Dielectric Deposition Product Business Group. ''Receiving the Best Product award is
exciting to Applied Materials, and especially to the many people directly responsible for the design, commercialization and
support of these systems. We especially must thank our customers, who gave us invaluable guidance and encouragement
throughout the product's development, enabling its fast acceptance into the most advanced fabs in the industry.''
All candidates for Semiconductor International's Best Product award must be nominated by a customer who is using the
product at its facility. The equipment's actual performance in day-to-day semiconductor fab operations is then evaluated by
users of the products. Winning wafer processing products must be verified by customers of the products as having advanced
processing technology and providing enhanced manufacturing results. Products selected as Best Products in the competition
have been proven in established production facilities.
The Ultima HDP-CVD system, introduced in October 1996, is the industry's most advanced high-density plasma chemical
vapor deposition (HDP-CVD) system. HDP-CVD is a key enabling technology for the next generation of semiconductor
devices. HDP-CVD technologies are especially suited for fluorine-doped dielectric films that increase microprocessor speed,
as well as for ultra-low metallic contamination in silicon dioxide films used for shallow and deep trench isolation (STI/DTI)
designs.
The unique plasma source and coil design of the HDP-CVD chamber has substantially greater tunability than other inductively
coupled source-type systems, for an extremely wide process window with a variety of gas chemistries. This gives the Ultima
system the capability to address multiple device generations, even as dielectric materials undergo extensive changes in
semiconductor production.
In an industry ''first'' for advanced environmental performance, the system employs an innovative Remote Plasma Clean
technology to clean the process chamber after deposition. The Remote Plasma Clean converts the source gas to active atoms in
a plasma located upstream of the process chamber. These neutral atoms are transported to the process chamber where they
selectively remove the material on chamber surfaces but do not attack metallic or ceramic chamber parts. Operating costs are
thus reduced and virtually no global warming gases are emitted from the chamber. For critical applications such as shallow and
deep trench isolation structures in advanced semiconductors, the Remote Plasma Clean significantly lowers the level of metallic
contamination, improving film quality and increasing device yield.
Technology used in the Ultima system was developed in part through a program with SEMATECH, involving three prominent
U.S. chipmakers, assuring its production-worthiness. In the year since its introduction, it has rapidly become the leading system
for advanced deposition of dielectric films for devices using 0.35 micron to 0.18 micron (and beyond) feature sizes. The system
serves applications as diverse as advanced intermetal dielectrics, shallow and deep trench isolation, and pre-metal dielectrics.
Applied Materials, Inc. is a Fortune 500 global growth company and the world's largest supplier of wafer fabrication systems
and services to the global semiconductor industry. Applied Materials is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under
the symbol, ''AMAT.'' Applied Materials' web site is appliedmaterials.com .
Contact:
Applied Materials
Betty Newboe, 408/563-0647 (editorial/media)
or
Carolyn Schwartz, 408/748-5227 (financial community) |
