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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (1530)	7/15/2002 7:52:46 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Soitec Selects Applied Materials' 300mm CMP System for SOI Wafer Production Reflexion CMP Capability is Critical to SOI Technology Roadmap SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 15, 2002--Soitec, the leading supplier of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers to the semiconductor industry, has selected Applied Materials' 300mm Reflexion(TM) CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) technology to manufacture UNIBOND® SOI wafers for advanced chip designs. The Reflexion system is Soitec's first 300mm system, and joins several Applied Materials Mirra(TM) CMP systems used for smaller wafer sizes. Emmanuel Arene, director of operations at Soitec, said, "We have qualified the Reflexion CMP system and process for 300mm production. Since the Reflexion is an extension of Applied Materials' highly successful 200mm CMP technology, we were able to ramp it very quickly in our 300mm SOI production line. The advanced process control capabilities of the Reflexion system, with its in situ process monitoring and on-board metrology, enable us to meet the stringent requirements of our current Smart Cut® SOI fabrication process and also provide a solution to achieve the roadmap for future SOI products that utilize much thinner layers." SOI technology is used to create an insulating film layer under a thin base layer of silicon for building higher speed, lower power consumption semiconductor devices. This technology has been shown to increase performance in many chip designs by up to 25 percent compared to devices made with traditional bulk silicon. Applied Materials is the leading supplier process equipment used in Soitec's Smart Cut technology, providing systems for ion implantation, metrology, and CMP. "Applied Materials has worked closely with Soitec on CMP applications for several years, and we are excited to join them in advancing 300mm SOI technology," noted Russell Ellwanger, vice president and general manager of Applied Materials' CMP/ECP Product Business Group. "As the semiconductor industry transitions to the sub-100nm device generation, we should see broad acceptance of SOI technology for high-speed and low-power devices, which will create additional demand for Soitec's UNIBOND SOI wafers. The Reflexion system is well-suited for future SOI technology generations, which will require high-precision polishing of very thin silicon layers to maximize the potential of SOI and bring its benefits to a broader range of chip types." The production-proven Reflexion system features the latest technology advances in CMP metrology and endpoint capability to provide industry-leading process uniformity. A variety of advanced process control (APC) options on the system reduce the need for off-line metrology, and greatly improve CMP reproducibility, uniformity and cost of ownership. FullScan(TM) endpoint detection reads across the entire surface of the wafer to provide precise control of overpolishing and enable higher yields. Applied Materials is the market share leader in CMP systems for 200mm and 300mm wafers. According to Dataquest, the market for CMP equipment was estimated to be $1.0 billion in 2001, and is forecast to reach $1.7 billion by 2005. Soitec is the world's leading manufacturer and supplier of SOI wafers, with greater than 80 percent market share. Headquartered in Bernin, France, Soitec provides a broad range of advanced thin-film substrates for IC manufacturing, including bonded SOI (UNIBOND) and silicon-on-quartz (SOQ) wafers. Soitec is traded on the French "Nouveau Marche" at the Paris Stock Exchange. Stock index converted into dollars can be consulted on the Internet at: semindex.org. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.Soitec.com. Applied Materials, the largest supplier of products and services to the global semiconductor industry, is one of the world's leading information infrastructure providers. Applied Materials enables Information for Everyone(TM) by helping semiconductor manufacturers produce more powerful, portable and affordable chips. Applied Materials' web site is www.appliedmaterials.com.