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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: robert b furman who wrote (829)	4/18/2002 3:54:45 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Applied executive warns of misleading low-k measurements in interconnects By Sara Sowah of EETimes, UK Semiconductor Business News (04/18/02 13:52 p.m. EST) MUNICH -- Let the buyer beware. Some materials being touted as low-k dielectrics films may not be low-k at all, warned Walter Schoenleber, senior director for technology at Applied Materials Europe. Speaking at this week's Semicon Europa here, Schoenleber said the wafer fab equipment giant has noticed that a number of supposed low-k materials for IC interconnect structures are delivering disappointing results in tests, partly because of the combinations in which they sometimes need to be used. Low-k materials -- typically described as films with a dielectric constant (k) of 3 and lower -- are seen as one way of insulating the metal interconnects in ICs and preventing cross-talk interference as process geometries shrink. Chips also can run at higher speeds and consume less power because of reduced capacitance in the interconnects. But Applied's Schoenleber says k values are often higher than expected. The values are impacted by the formulation of low-k materials, coating layers that prevents the low-k material being contaminated by copper metal lines and the interconnects themselves, said the Applied Materials executive. "It's the electrical value between the interconnects and the coating that is important," Schoenleber said. "Some of the values I have seen in newspapers make me wonder if it's just talk or if anyone is actually producing these results." Schoenleber said he believes that low-k and copper interconnects have been somewhat hyped: "There has been lots of discussion about the need for them, but customers are only now getting low-k and copper interconnects into full production." Copper and low-k as an interconnect combo is still relatively new, and Schoenleber insists that there is plenty of time to develop the technologies further. For the most part, copper dual-damascene processing has replaced traditional aluminum interconnects in advanced ICs in advanced processes, but the industry continues to struggle with leading candidates for low-k interlevel dielectric (ILD) layers partly because of the wide array of choices for films. The mass of tool-set and material issues has slowed the growth of low-k material revenues in the chip industry. Low-k revenues will only reach $16 million in 2002 but grow to nearly $400 million in 2006, according to a recent report from Kline & Co. (see SBN's April 3 story). "Huge amounts of work can still be done to stretch the capabilities of copper [as an interconnect material]. It really is in its infancy," emphasized Schoenleber. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Applied Materials is working on is working a second-generation, low-k technology--called "Black Diamond II"--for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) tools. The current Black Diamond uses a non-porous film with a k value of 3.0 to 2.0, according to the company. Others are also pushing hard on "ultra-low-k" dielectrics, including U.K.-based Trikon Technologies Inc., which rolled out a new CVD "bridge tool" for 200-/300-mm wafers and its porous film, called Orion. The combination of Orion films and the new Planar 300 platform will support low-k interconnects structures for processes down to the 45-nm technology node, said the company at Semicon Europa this week (see SBN's April 16 story). --Additional reporting for this story by SBN. EETimes, UK is a sister news operation of SBN located in the United Kingdom.

To: robert b furman who wrote (829)	4/18/2002 10:30:42 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Chartered increasing capex plans........ Chartered moves up start of delayed 300-mm fab, posts higher Q1 sales Semiconductor Business News (04/18/02 19:12 p.m. EST) SINGAPORE -- Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Pte. Ltd. here early Friday (April 19) reported a stronger-than-expected 11% sequential increase in revenues for the first quarter of 2002. The Singapore silicon foundry projected that growth would gain momentum in the current Q2 period, with sales expected to rise another 25% sequentially. In response to stronger market conditions, Chartered said it has increased its 2002 capital expenditure plan from $400 million to $500 million. The foundry has also decided to accelerate the start of its planned 300-mm wafer plant, called Fab 7, with initial production now slated to start in the third quarter of 2003. The company said it has also pulled in selected purchases of 300-mm tools. Chartered's Q1 revenues reached $84.4 million, compared to $76.1 million in Q4 of 2001. Two months ago, the Singapore foundry company had raised its initial forecast to "single-digit" sequential growth in revenues in Q1, but conditions continued to improve in March. The foundry company's net loss was $128.4 million in the first quarter vs. $127.2 million in Q4 of 2001. The loss of $0.93 per American Depositary Share (ADS) was better than Chartered's guidance in February of $0.98 per ADS share. "During the last six weeks, we have seen growing indications from our customer base that the semiconductor industry recovery is beginning to accelerate," said Barry Waite, president and CEO of Chartered. "We see improvement in orders across all of the market segments we serve and across a wide range of customers, particularly those in communications." Waite said foundry capacity for 0.18-micron process technologies played a key factor in the first-quarter improvement, and the company expects to more than double its revenues in the technology to "well over 20%" of total sales in Q2. The Singapore foundry is projecting a second-quarter factory utilization rate in the mid-30-percentage range from 28% in Q1 and 25% in Q4 of 2001. The company is estimating a net loss of $113-to-$116 million in the second quarter. "Chartered is off to a good start in 2002, as wafer shipments in the first quarter were up over 25% from the third-quarter 2001 trough, and recovery momentum is building across the markets we serve," Waite said. "Assuming that market and customer strength continues as we now anticipate, we have set our sights on a target to achieve a fourth-quarter 2002 revenue run-rate of at least double that of first quarter 2002," he added. Chartered's wafer-processing capacity in first quarter was essentially flat with fourth quarter 2001 and up approximately 3% from first quarter 2001. The foundry said its shipments in first quarter totaled 81,600 eight-inch equivalent wafers, an increase of 13.2% from 72,100 wafers in Q4 due to increased demand in the consumer segment and to a lesser extent communications. Shipments in Q1 were 51 below 166,400 wafers in the first quarter last year. Chartered said average-selling prices (ASPs) for processed wafers decreased 2% to $1,034 in the just-ended quarter from $1,055 per wafer in Q4. Chartered's ASPs dropped 16.7% from $1,242 per wafer.