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

To: Andrew Vance who wrote (793)	2/27/1998 6:13:00 PM
From: Volsi Mimir	Respond to of 1305

AV Beautiful glad you know and I think all of those companies should buy 4-5 to R&D at first I wanted gas---I got it I got a motherlode: semiconductoronline.com Its gonna take me a week to go thru will look at a few but its TGIF GL&GT eddyb

To: Andrew Vance who wrote (793)	2/28/1998 2:57:00 PM
From: Brad Rogers	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1305

Andrew, you should check out a SI thread I started some months ago: "George Gilder - Forbes ASAP". It has really brought in some intelligent conversation; even George Gilder himself contributes. Let me know what you think, if should venture over that way.

To: Andrew Vance who wrote (793)	2/28/1998 4:14:00 PM
From: Crossy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1305

Dear Andrew, in order to embark on more "supplier plays" for DUV lithography, You mentioned that many industrial gases companies (like PX) sell excimer & other gases as supply for lithographic application also, but it was only a tiny fraction of their total sales, thus the lack of "pure plays" in this segment (apart from high-priced ATMI). I now wonder, shouldn't be the reticle-makers a good target, or do they share the same weakness (to broad a scope) with the industrial-gas suppliers ?? Any comments appreciated.. regards CROSSY

To: Andrew Vance who wrote (793)	2/28/1998 10:56:00 PM
From: James Word	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1305

News and Rumors from SPIE Microlithography 1998 Conference I spent the last week in Santa Clara at the SPIE conference and had the chance to talk with many diverse individuals regarding some our favorite litho companies. Keep in mind, alot of this is just rumor. Almost all of it comes from people who DONT work for any of the companies mentioned here. ASML - Growing fast, which is obvious to everyone around here. They have bet alot on Asia and may have a bit of a problem collecting payment from those customers right now. This may be true for all stepper companies. SVGL - Hugely successful Micrascan series is scaring the crap out of the other 3 stepper companies. Intel, Moto, IBM all use SVGL to print 0.25um Microprocessor critical layers. Their CD uniformity is unmatched due to the "scanning" system that the others have been struggling with. Still the only reliable step-and-scans available. I got a chance to demo one at their demo lab there. Very nice. Canon - Loosing market share to ASML, so the story goes. However, the other big 3 companies consider Canon a very serious contender now and in the future. Why? The company is ENORMOUS and is pouring scads of cash into lithography in a way that the other big three can't. Nikon - Rumor is ... the problems that weve heard about with Nikon DUV and Cymer lasers MAY be due to they way they have designed it into their system. Apparently, in their original design, they had the laser firing constantly, whereas the other guys were using "on demand" firing where the laser is firing only when it's needed for exposure. This limits the lifetime of certain key components in the laser. Cymer - Komatsu is making big inroads into Japan. They still are not used in production, but IMHO it's just a matter of time. Also, see 193nm news below. As far as the technical symposium is concerned . . . Alot of presentations focused on 193nm lithography. Last year at the conference 193 was still viewed as iffy. Maybe it might be used, maybe not. Now, it looks like a done deal. Resists are maturing, lens material (a mix between Fused Silica an Calcium Flouride will be used in most systems) is looking good etc. Most companies are planning on 193nm steppers shipping in 1999-2000. This is good news for Cymer. James Word