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Technology Stocks : Novellus -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Todd D. Wiener who wrote (1387)	2/18/1998 10:51:00 PM
From: AllenP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3813

Semiconductor equipment stocks seen rising in 1998 NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Shares of companies that supply equipment and services to computer chip makers are seen rising this year amid the belief that the worst of the Asian economic crisis has passed, industry analysts and company executives said on Wednesday. Even though capital spending on semiconductor equipment by Asian companies will likely dip this year and perhaps next, strength in other areas of the industry will buoy companies that are strategically prepared, according to speakers at the Seminvest conference in New York. ''We've probably seen a lot of the worst, and we think that investors over the next 12 to 18 months will see higher stock prices,'' Jonathan Joseph of NationsBanc Montgomery Securities said. ''The deeper the cuts in 1998, the better,'' said Elliott Rogers of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, referring to expectations of reduced spending this year by Asian chip makers. He said many companies in the sector were looking beyond this year and planning for growth in 1999 and 2000. This month, semiconductor equipment companies such as Applied Materials Inc (AMAT - news) and Lam Research Corp (LRCX - news) have revealed wounds from Asia's recent economic problems, including slowed growth in orders and sales. Chip makers in South Korea and other Asian countries buy a big chunk of all chip-making equipment each year. Even so, James Morgan, Applied's chairman and chief executive, said the current market was rich with long-term opportunity, particularly for his company's products outside of the memory chip area. Applied's North American business is healthy, and Europe's economic climate is improving, driven by strong demand for logic and telecommunications devices, he said. ''While there may be some cutback in the next couple of quarters, the long-term viability is not in doubt,'' Morgan said. ''This should not be seen as a trend specific to our industry, but should be viewed as something that we have to deal with,'' he said. Morgan said the industry was closely watching Japan, where spending decisions for the next fiscal year are expected to be made soon. ''The key now is Japan,'' Morgan said. ''Depending on how that comes out will affect the entire industry.'' --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: Todd D. Wiener who wrote (1387)	2/19/1998 3:37:00 PM
From: David Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3813

IBM DUMIC Paper Highlights Process Results of Integrated F-HDP/PECVDProcess for Production Use Novellus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVLS), the productivity and innovation leader in thin film deposition, today announced the first high-volume production implementation of a chemical vapor deposited (CVD) low dielectric constant (low-K) fluorinated High Density Plasma (F-HDP) film for 0.25-micron logic devices. Low-K dielectrics have been widely recognized as a way to maximize the speeds of advanced logic devices because they reduce total device capacitance. In a paper published by IBM Corp. at the Dielectrics for ULSI Multilevel Interconnect Conference, (DUMIC), held in Santa Clara, Calif. this week, IBM reported a total line-to-line capacitance reduction of 12 percent using an F-HDP film as an intermetal dielectric (IMD). According to the paper, this capacitance reduction enables significant increases in clock speeds of the company's most advanced microprocessors. The integration sequence described in the publication combines an F-HDP gap-fill process with an in-situ plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) capping layer. This delivers as much as a 50 percent reduction in the overall cost of ownership when compared to conventional IMD schemes where the entire deposition is done by HDP. Wilbert van den Hoek, vice president of Novellus' Dielectrics division, said, "The capacitance reduction and cost-of-ownership improvements shown make this integrated F-HDP/PECVD process the preferred solution for sub-0.25-micron IMD applications. Novellus offers this advanced process on integrated SPEED HDP systems, which are already in wide-spread volume production. By offering such enabling applications on existing equipment, we continue to help our customers develop and implement new technologies while extending their capital investment." James Mitchener, general manager of the Dielectrics division, said, "The ability to provide a proprietary, in-situ PECVD capping layer is unique to the integrated Novellus SPEED systems. Along with productivity and cost-of-ownership advantages, the material characteristics of this capping layer provide device protection from the detrimental effects of long term fluorine migration that are seen with single film F-HDP processes." Mitchener said that the company has been working with several customers for over a year to develop a manufacturable F-HDP solution. "Our single tool F-HDP/PECVD integration has provided a complete solution with a wide process window for production implementation. This is also consistent with Novellus' commitment to provide customers with advanced technology at the lowest cost," Mitchener noted. A typical two micron IMD stack using F-HDP and PECVD can be deposited in the Novellus integrated SPEED system at throughputs greater than 30 wafers per hour, the industry's highest for advanced CVD IMD applications. This implementation in high-volume production of the low-K F-HDP film is the latest validation of the success of the Novellus SPEED HDP system. Since its introduction in February 1996, the SPEED system has attained market leadership in HDP and has become the IMD process tool of record for the world's most advanced semiconductor fabs. Based on current data from independent market research firm, Dataquest (San Jose, Calif.), Novellus SPEED HDP systems have captured more than 65 percent of the worldwide HDP market.