AG Associates Ships 300th Heatpulse 8000 Series System to Major Japanese Chipmaker.SAN JOSE San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 28, 1998--AG Associates (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :AGAI AGAI Associazione Guide Alpine Italiane AGAI Army General Administrative Instruction (UK) AGAI Antano Gustaicio Aviacijos Institutas (Lithuania) ), the pioneer and a leading supplier of advanced, single-wafer rapid thermal processing Rapid Thermal Processing (or RTP) refers to a semiconductor manufacturing process which heats silicon wafers to high temperatures (up to 1200 C or greater) on a timescale of several seconds or less. (RTP (1) (Rapid Transport Protocol) The protocol used in IBM's High Performance Routing (HPR) system. (2) (Realtime Transport Protocol) An IP protocol that supports real time transmission of voice and video. ) equipment used in the manufacture of integrated circuits Integrated circuits Miniature electronic circuits produced within and upon a single semiconductor crystal, usually silicon. Integrated circuits range in complexity from simple logic circuits and amplifiers, about 1/20 in. (1. (ICs), today announced it has achieved a major corporate milestone with the shipment of its 300th Heatpulse(R) 8000 series RTP system to a leading Japanese chipmaker chip·mak·er n. A manufacturer of electronic and integrated circuit chips. . In addition to signaling the continued market success of the Heatpulse 8000 series as the industry's production-proven RTP workhorse for 0.25 micron applications, the shipment further entrenches AG Associates as the leading supplier of RTP systems in Japan. Installed in the chipmaker's facility in May, the Heatpulse system is being used in metal silicide sil·i·cide n. A compound of silicon with another element or radical. Noun 1. silicide - any of various compounds of silicon with a more electropositive element or radical and implant annealing annealing (ənēl`ĭng), process in which glass, metals, and other materials are treated to render them less brittle and more workable. applications for volume production of 64MB dynamic random access memory Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is a type of random access memory that stores each bit of data in a separate capacitor within an integrated circuit. Since real capacitors leak charge, the information eventually fades unless the capacitor charge is refreshed periodically. (DRAMs). Derek Tomlinson, AG Associates' vice president of sales and marketing, noted that this milestone validates chipmakers' confidence in AG Associates' reliable, low-cost RTP systems for their stringent manufacturing requirements. "Today's RTP tools must deliver advanced, cost-effective performance and repeatable process results. The technological strength and low cost-of-ownership advantages afforded by our Heatpulse 8000 series have allowed us to claim the lead position in the hard-to-penetrate Japanese market." Commenting on the overall growth of the RTP market, G. Dan Hutcheson, president of industry research firm VLSI VLSI: see integrated circuit. (1) (Very Large Scale Integration) Between 100,000 and one million transistors on a chip. See SSI, MSI, LSI and ULSI. (2) (VLSI Technology, Inc., Tempe, AZ, www.semiconductors. Research Inc. (San Jose), noted, "As device geometries continue to shrink, RTP technology has become increasingly critical, as witnessed by the market growth in recent years. RTP is one of the fastest growing market segments in the thermal processing market and is predicted to grow from $239 million in 1997 to $567 million by the year 2001." Tomlinson continued, "As the demand for advanced RTP products continues to rise, we are well positioned with highly competitive mix-and-match process and production solutions backed by a comprehensive global service and support infastructure." With temperature uniformity and repeatability having an increasing impact on both device performance and yield, chipmakers transitioning to 0.25 micron device geometries need advanced, cost-effective process solutions that meet their rigorous manufacturing requirements. The Heatpulse 8000 series is designed to address these needs through its unique wafer processing capability, which permits emissivity Emissivity The ratio of the radiation intensity of a nonblack body to the radiation intensity of a blackbody. This ratio, which is usually designated by the Greek letter ε, is always less than or just equal to one. independent temperature control throughout the processing cycle -- significantly enhancing process repeatability and increasing yield. In addition, the Heatpulse 8000 series delivers one of the industry's highest throughput rates at the lowest costs of ownership. AG Associates' Heatpulse 8000 series is comprised of both the Heatpulse 8108 and Heatpulse 8800 RTP systems. The Heatpulse 8108 was originally designed to address 0.35 micron RTP processes, while the Heatpulse 8800 was created for 0.25 micron applications. However, through AG Associates' capital reuse program, the Heatpulse 8800's advanced performance features are available as upgrade/retrofit packages for the Heatpulse 8108 -- allowing chipmakers to extend the Heatpulse 8108's capability down to 0.25 micron. Both the Heatpulse 8108 and Heatpulse 8800 were recipients of Semiconductor International's Editors' Choice Best Product Awards in 1994 and 1997, respectively. AG Associates has the world's largest installed base of RTP systems, with over 700 production systems installed in chipmakers' fabs worldwide. Specifically in Japan, the company has over 150 Heatpulse systems in production. Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those projected, including the timely development and acceptance of new products, pricing competition, the ability of the customer to postpone or cancel orders, the ability to achieve acceptable cost of ownership, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information in this release. AG Associates is a leading supplier of rapid thermal processing (RTP) equipment to the worldwide semiconductor industry. Founded in 1981, AG Associates is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and maintains customer service and support centers in the United States, Europe and Far East to support its global customer base. The company's common stock trades on the Nasdaq Stock Market Nasdaq stock market The first electronic stock market listing over 5000 companies. The Nasdaq stock market comprises two separate markets, namely the Nasdaq National Market, which trades large, active securities and the Nasdaq Smallcap Market that trades emerging growth companies. under the symbol AGAI. For more information on the company, visit AG Associates at: http://www.agassociates.com on the World Wide Web.
CONTACT: AG Associates, Inc.
Anita Gat, 408/935-2002
or
MCA, Inc.
Marie Labrie, 650/968-8900
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