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

To: Kirk © who wrote (15204)	6/7/2005 5:19:08 PM
From: Bookdon	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 25522

This sounds like a mask inspection tool they developed about three years ago. It used a similar technology. The problem they had at that time was that it was only good for die-to-die inspection, not die-to-data base. For high-end masks (its only market), there was often only one die on the mask; die-to-die was not very useful. That, coupled with being late to market by about a year, killed the product. KLA laughed all the way to the bank. I'm hoping that this is not just an attempt to revive a failed product.

To: Kirk © who wrote (15204)	6/7/2005 6:16:16 PM
From: etchmeister	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Repair defects - I don't think so as the value of a wafer continues to increase the objective is to catch the problem as soon as possible rather to continue processing more wafers (scrap one wafer rather scrapping a 25 or 50 wafer lot) Metrology and diagnostics for capital productivity The poor business climate has also increased interest in integrated metrology, e-diagnostics, and other productivity improvements. According to Giora Dishon, managing director of Nova Measuring Instruments, many IC manufacturers view standalone metrology tools as a cost, while integrated metrology systems add value. For example, a standalone metrology tool can only indicate a manufacturing problem, while integrated metrology can support real-time process control. Nova’s film thickness measurement is integrated with Applied Materials’ Mirra CMP systems. Applied’s new Transforma etch system also relies on integrated metrology, using automatic critical dimension measurement for improved control of gate dimensions. On the e-diagnostics front, domainLogix teamed with AMD and ILS Technology to demonstrate several e-diagnostics products. The e-Centre framework, developed by ILS and domainLogix, supports secure equipment connectivity and remote tool access and troubleshooting. It relies on the object-based equipment model (OBEM) to manage the interface to each individual tool. Applications, such as AMD’s ASPECT statistical proces control package, don’t need to worry about networking or internal equipment details. Bob Bruck, Intel’s director of fab capital equipment development, has said that useful e-diagnostics are still three equipment generations away. Richard Deininger, AMD’s director of strategic equipment technology planning, disagrees. He said that AMD is using e-diagnostics now, and in fact couldn’t make manufacturing changes as quickly as it does without the technology. thinfilmmfg.com I'm not sure if there is an audio presentation on AMAT web site but they seem to mention etch specifically and etch is one of the areas where one could introduce defects.