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Technology Stocks : Cymer (CYMI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Czechsinthemail who wrote (15044)	2/25/1998 5:21:00 PM
From: Andrew Vance	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25960

You bring up two interesting topics which may need to be treated separately. 1. Upgrading DUV systems. Actually that is what you want a YES response to. This week ASMLF introduced their i-line step and scan system. While this has nothing to do with DUV at the present, I think the system can be upgraded to DUV down the road. The stepper manufacturers are trying to come up with a multi-functional platform for their steppers that will allow the transition to other technologies to occur smoothly. This is also something that the market is demanding. Having to constantly retrain Engineers, operators, Maintenance and Field service or Applications people with each newly designed piece of equipment is very time consuming and costly. Being able to build and upgrade on an exiting platform is desirable. Therefore these systems are being built to allow for the upgrading of both illumination columns and sources. This is a real good thing for CYMI since it will allow CYMI the vehicle to replace its older DUV portion of the stepper without the end customer having to buy a completely new stepper. I may not have stated it positively but it is a positive situation. when the current generation of laser/illumination becomes obsolete, a new and advanced component should be able to be dropped into place. Bad for the stepper frame guys since their platform is not replaced as often. 2. The larger wafer sizes may not be as big an issue as one would be led to believe. Wafer size has no bearing on CYMI since the field of exposure is much smaller than the area of the wafer. While many other process tools will require a complete re-design of the product to accommodate larger diameter wafers (uniformity of deposition or plasma discharge, etal.) it may be that the steppers and steppan scan systems might only need larger wafer stages and extended distances for stage travel. Again, CYMI products should be insulated from the wafer diameter transition down the road. You do make an interesting point though. The new generation of steppers should be both 200mm and 300mm capable with very little modification. If you have a 300mm wafer stage and travel capability then you have a rock solid 200mm tool. In non lithographic pieces of equipment the difference between 200mm and 300mm would be like night and day. Andrew