ADE Ships Film Inspection Tool to Major Taiwanese Foundry; Company Continues to Penetrate Front-End Device Market.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

WESTWOOD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 2002

ADE Corporation (Nasdaq: ADEX), a leading supplier of production metrology and inspection systems for the semiconductor wafer, semiconductor device, magnetic storage and optics manufacturing industries, announced today that the Company has delivered its model 3120 film inspection system to a major Taiwanese foundry. The Film Inspection Tool provides accurate defect discrimination that allows the user to reduce the cost of monitor wafers and shorten the feedback loop in process control.

The ADE Film Inspection Tool is designed for surface inspection and defect detection on non-patterned dielectric and metal films on 200mm and 300mm wafers. The film system's superior performance in the area of defect discrimination is the result of successfully deploying ADE's Angular Resolved Scatter patented intellectual property to meet the new inspection requirements of advanced device processing, which go beyond the traditional defect detection of current standard inspection systems.

Stated Dr. Chris L. Koliopoulos, ADE's President and Chief Executive Officer, "The acceptance of our Film Inspection Tool by another major device manufacturer extends ADE's strategic entry into the front-end device market. The Film Inspection Tool demonstrates a clear performance advantage for process control and yield improvement in semiconductor device fabs. ADE worked closely with its customers to develop enabling technology with low cost-of-ownership. This inspection tool allows the customer to use lower cost monitor wafers that inherently have high numbers of crystalline originated pit defects, COPs. Angular Resolved Scatter technology allows the device fab to distinguish between these COP defects and process originated particles and other yield reducing defects, rather than having to use prime wafers to monitor the various film processes during device fabrication. The savings can be significant, especially during the initial ramp of a new process. We are pleased with the ADE Film Inspection Tool abilities to provide valuable defect inspection capabilities in the semiconductor device market and are very excited about its long-term potential."

ADE will showcase the Film Inspection Tool at the SEMICON Japan 2002 exhibition, December 4-6, at the Canon booth #6-A901 in the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.

About ADE Corporation, Inc.

ADE Corporation is a leading supplier of metrology and inspection systems for the silicon wafer and magnetic data storage, and optics manufacturing industries. The Company's systems analyze and report product quality at critical manufacturing process steps for yield enhancement, providing quality certification data that is relied upon by semiconductor wafer, device and computer disk manufacturers. The Company's systems also are used for production measurements in the semiconductor chip fabrication process. To learn more about ADE, visit the Company's Web site at http://www.ade.com.

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Those statements that make reference to the Company's expectations, predictions, assumptions and anticipations should be considered forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, those associated with the demand for and competitive advantage of the Film Inspection Tool model 3120 and the Company's entry into the device market. These statements involve risks and uncertainties including those associated with the strength of the semiconductor and device markets, wafer pricing and wafer demand, the results of its product development efforts, the success of ADE's product offerings to meet customer needs within the timeframes required by customers in these markets, further increases in backlog, the Company's ability to increase gross margins, its visibility, and its predictions of future financial outcomes. Further information on potential factors that could affect ADE Corporation's business is described in the Company's reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2002.