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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (35694)	7/10/2000 12:24:04 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

SiGen and Applied Materials Collaborate on SOI Wafer Smoothing Technology Technology to Be Commercialized Using Applied Materials' Epi Centura(R) System SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 10, 2000-- Silicon Genesis Corporation (SiGen) and Applied Materials, Inc. have developed a new technology for smoothing SOI (silicon-on-insulator) wafer surfaces. This proprietary method, which uses a gas phase treatment combined with an epitaxial deposition process, offers significant advantages for building higher performance, next-generation chip designs. The new SOI technology capability was demonstrated on an Applied Materials' Epi Centura® epitaxial deposition system which provided sub-angstrom smoothness and excellent thickness control, even for SOI wafers having a starting roughness as large as 60 angstroms. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS99) estimates a requirement for sub-angstrom silicon wafer surface smoothness prior to gate oxidation for 0.18 micron and beyond device generations. SOI wafers with this exceptional level of surface smoothness can be directly used by production lines for increased gate oxide quality, improved device performance and yield. Francois Henley, president and chief executive officer of Silicon Genesis, said, ``This collaboration with Applied Materials to implement our early concepts has resulted in the development of a fully qualified, high-throughput, production-ready process to address present and future chip requirements with wide process margins. Applied Materials' efforts have been a major factor in the rapid advances we have made since we began shipping wafers from our SOI manufacturing line.'' Grant Imper, General Manager of the Epitaxial Substrate Division at Applied Materials, said, ``Our work with SiGen was key to the development of this non-contact smoothing technology as a new application of our Epi Centura epitaxial deposition system. We expect this technology to have important application not only in SOI but in other areas of wafer processing whenever accurate control of the top silicon layer thickness and smooth sub-angstrom surfaces are required.'' Applied Materials and SiGen have entered into an agreement to commercialize this important new technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Applied Materials will retain certain exclusive rights to manufacture equipment performing the smoothing process while SiGen retains exclusive process rights in the field of SOI and cleaved substrates. Details of these technology advances will be discussed in a joint paper to be given at the IEEE SOI conference in Wakefield, Massachusetts, in October 2000. Applied Materials (Nasdaq:AMAT - news) is a leader of the Information Age and the world's largest supplier of products and services to the global semiconductor and flat panel display industries. Applied Materials' web site is appliedmaterials.com. Silicon Genesis Corporation is an advanced materials supplier of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers and specialized SOI fabrication tools for the microelectronics industry. The company promotes acceptance of its layer-transfer technology by continued development of its advanced process and equipment technology as well as through strategic alliances. Silicon Genesis Corporation's web site is sigen.com.

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (35694)	7/10/2000 3:30:15 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Applied Materials Introduces 300mm Transistor Solutions Epi Centura(R) 300 -- SiNgen(TM) Centura(R) 300 -- Radiance(TM) Centura(R) 300 -- SACVD Producer(R) 300 -- Quantum(TM) 300 SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 10, 2000-- Applied Materials, Inc. today introduced its comprehensive product line for manufacturing advanced transistor structures on 300mm wafers. These 300mm-ready systems combine industry-leading RTP (rapid thermal processing), ion implantation, epitaxial deposition, and low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) technologies with major innovations in factory efficiency to minimize customers' risk and speed time to volume production. Nick Miller, president of Applied Materials' Transistor and Capacitor Business Group, said, ``The technology requirements for transistor fabrication are advancing very rapidly as our customers transition to 300mm manufacturing. New materials and designs demand a reduced thermal budget, creating a significant opportunity for our single-wafer systems. At the same time, the radically shrinking dimensions within the transistor structure allow us to demonstrate equally important advantages in process control offered by these systems. New advances in automation on our 300mm systems contribute even further to maximizing the benefits of 300mm technology.'' Applied Materials' 300mm systems cover virtually all of the processing applications required for transistor fabrication. For epitaxial deposition, the Epi Centura 300 system extends the proven, industry-leading technology of the company's 200mm Epi Centura system. Applied Materials announced shipment of its first 300mm epi systems to several wafer manufacturers in 1997 and has since built a large base of experience in large diameter epi deposition. Single-wafer LPCVD allows chipmakers to significantly decrease a wafer's thermal exposure relative to batch furnaces, providing better control over dopant diffusion, which is critical for maintaining electrical performance. The SiNgen Centura 300 system provides silicon nitride deposition for advanced front-end applications and is a high-performance, cost-competitive alternative to batch furnaces for sidewall spacer, etch stop, shallow trench isolation layers and other applications in 0.13 micron and below devices. The SACVD Producer 300 is an extremely high throughput CVD system for transistor dielectric CVD films such as shallow trench isolation oxides. RTP has become a critical production process for transistor-level fabrication, with its importance increasing at 300mm. Building on Applied Materials' position as the leading supplier of RTP systems, the new Radiance Centura 300 system provides unmatched temperature uniformity for 0.13 micron feature sizes and beyond. The system offers a full range of production processes, ranging from implant annealing of ultra shallow junctions made with ultra low energy implants to several oxidation processes for growing the highest quality oxides in very thin layers, such as those used in ultra-thin gate stack structures. As transistor dimensions have radically shrunk with each device generation, chipmakers have required new capabilities from their ion implant systems to control the transistor's electrical characteristics. Applied Materials' Quantum 300 family of ion implant systems offers a combination of low beam energies and an enhanced beamline for high throughput, including the revolutionary Quantum LEAP ultra-low energy (200ev to 80Kev) technology. The Quantum 300 systems can be used in combination with the Radiance Centura system to enable precise creation of ultra-shallow junctions at and below 0.13 micron. Applied Materials (Nasdaq:AMAT - news) is a leader of the Information Age and the world's largest supplier of products and services to the global semiconductor and flat panel display industries. Applied Materials' web site is appliedmaterials.com.