November 11, 8:14 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Ultratech Announces Strategic Alliance With Shin-Etsu MicroSi
The Two Companies Will Focus On Thick Film Resist and Specialty Resist Applications to Offer Cost-effective Manufacturing Processes
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 1999-- Ultratech Stepper, Inc. (Nasdaq NM: UTEK - news), a leading supplier of photolithography systems used to manufacture semiconductors, micromachined devices and thin film heads (TFH) for disk drives, today announced a non-exclusive strategic alliance with U.S.-based Shin-Etsu MicroSi, a photoresist manufacturer and wholly-owned subsidiary of Shin-Etsu, Tokyo.
The alliance -- motivated by customer demand for superior lithography tools with proven working processes -- will utilize Ultratech's latest systems to evaluate the performance of Shin-Etsu MicroSi's range of resist products for i-line, g-line and broadband exposure tools and will examine their use in a variety of applications, including TFH, micromachining and bump processing.
As lithography continues to be pushed to its limits, there is increasing urgency for stepper manufacturers and producers of resist materials to present customers with tools that perform to their unique processing specifications. The challenge for photoresist companies is maintaining costly leading-edge, in-house steppers to characterize their materials.
For lithography companies, access to state-of-the-art resist materials during testing is vital for optimizing the performance parameters of their tools. Photoresist producers can test their materials on the latest steppers, while their counterparts, the lithography equipment manufacturers, have access to the most advanced resist materials in development and direct contact with the resist vendor's engineering group.
The ultimate winner from such an alliance is the customer, who benefits from the substantial portion of the resist process development that is completed prior to delivery of the stepper, giving them a head start in integrating the stepper into their fab.
''This alliance, with a leading photoresist manufacturer who shares our customer base, further demonstrates our commitment to providing customers with a cost-effective, intelligent solution for their lithography needs,'' said Ultratech's president and COO, Daniel Berry.
''Our goal has always been to extend beyond the simple provision of reliable, high-performance equipment, and we're very sensitive to our customers' demands for a complete process solution. Having access to Shin-Etsu MicroSi's impressive range of products allows us to further refine the working process of our most advanced tools, including the new i-line and XLS reduction steppers and the new broadband 1X bump stepper. In addition, we believe the partnership will facilitate our penetration of new market segments such as bump, which are highly dependent on the availability of resists and proven working processes.''
Commenting on the alliance, Shin-Etsu MicroSi's president, John Sesody said, ''We believe this partnership with Ultratech brings us many steps closer to offering certain customers a 'process', not just a material. Having the opportunity to test our products on Ultratech's latest tools allows us to exploit many new market possibilities. It relieves the excessive cost burden of maintaining advanced steppers yet allows us to characterize our resist materials on the most sophisticated equipment.''
The alliance, which is expected to boost Ultratech's competitiveness in the global semiconductor market, kicked off with a joint Shin-Etsu MicroSi/Ultratech presentation at Ultratech's 1999 Thin Film Head Lithography Seminar in San Jose on Sept. 22, 1999. The paper discussed the advances in i-line resists for thin film head lithography with resist aspect ratios up to 10:1. Teams from both companies will meet regularly to develop plans and oversee ongoing work. The ultimate objective of the partnership is to achieve an optimized process for various materials and feature types (isolated spaces, contact holes, dense lines/spaces). This includes spin, baking and developing conditions. The work will be done on Ultratech's newest steppers in San Jose and Wilmington, Mass.
About Shin-Etsu MicroSi: Shin-Etsu purchased MicroSi in 1989 and expanded its product lines, which now include photolithography products (pellicles, photoresists, quartz substrates for photomasks and contrast enhancement materials), semiconductor packaging products (thermal management products, device packaging products and silicone polyimides) and high performance, flexible copper laminates used in the production of flexible circuits. Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd., the Tokyo-based chemical company, is the world's largest supplier of semiconductor materials, semiconductor silicon, synthetic quartz glass and PVC, and is a major producer of materials including silicones, methylcellulose, and rare earths. The company's home page on the World Wide Web is located at microsi.com
About Ultratech: Founded in 1979, Ultratech Stepper, Inc. designs, manufactures and markets photolithography equipment used worldwide in the fabrication of integrated circuits, micromachining devices, thin film heads for disk drives and photomasks for the semiconductor industry. The company produces products that substantially reduce the cost of ownership for manufacturers in the electronics industry. The company's home page on the World Wide Web is located at ultratech.com
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Contact:
Ultratech Stepper, Inc.
Bruce R. Wright, 408/321-8835 (Senior VP & CFO)
Laura Rebouche, 408/321-8835 (Director of IR and
Corp. Communications)
Email: lrebouche@corp.ultratech.com
or
MCA
Jane Evans-Ryan, 650/968-8900 (Senior Associate)
Email: jryan@mcapr.com
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