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To: etchmeister who wrote (28765)	2/22/2006 1:10:28 AM
From: Donald Wennerstrom	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95737

Cymer and KLA-Tencor Collaborate to Speed Lithography Process Optimization; Cymer`s Light Source Spectra to Be Incorporated into KLA-Tencor`s PROLITH(TM) Advanced Lithography Process Optimization Tool February 21, 2006 16:50:01 (ET) SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb 21, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cymer, Inc. (CYMI, Trade), the world's leading supplier of deep ultraviolet (DUV) excimer laser light sources used in semiconductor manufacturing, today announced an agreement to collaborate with KLA-Tencor (KLAC, Trade), the leading supplier of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor industry. As part of the agreement, Cymer will provide details of light source spectra to be incorporated into KLA-Tencor's industry-standard PROLITH lithography optimization tool. In addition, the companies expect to continue to jointly develop enhancements to this capability for future PROLITH revisions. Through this collaboration, Cymer and KLA-Tencor plan to leverage their proven technology expertise to deliver increased accuracy, giving users immediate access to a more accurate representation of the complete optical lithography process. As a result, customers can optimize their lithography processes much faster, thus reducing their time-to-production and maximizing overall return on investment (ROI), critical differentiators for success in today's advanced lithography arena. "The effect of laser bandwidth on critical dimensions (CD) becomes more significant with higher numerical apertures (NA) and shrinking process windows. As these effects become progressively greater, we see a growing need to provide a more accurate representation of the light source spectrum available to our customers," said Edward Charrier, General Manager, Process Analysis Division, KLA-Tencor. "By leveraging Cymer's laser spectral data and expertise, we can offer customers a truly comprehensive representation of the complete optical lithography process, and provide an added level of accuracy." The PROLITH advanced lithography process optimization tool provides users with insight into the effects of lithography process variables while evaluating process performance improvements. With the new enhancements, customers using PROLITH will be able to model the effects of changes in light source spectral characteristics on their advanced lithography processes, and use these results to better optimize their process to minimize the effects of the variations. "We have been collaborating with KLA-Tencor on simulating the impact of laser bandwidth on CD for over five years and are pleased to join forces, once again, to meet a critical industry need with the development of the latest version of PROLITH," said Nigel Farrar, Cymer's vice president Lithography Applications Marketing. "KLA-Tencor's integration of our bandwidth data into PROLITH builds on Cymer's extensive research into the effect of laser bandwidth on imaging and provides customers with enabling technology for next-generation lithography." The latest update of PROLITH, version 9.3.1, is available to users now.