ASML Enters Global Market for Thin-Film Head Lithography Systems.

VELDHOVEN, The Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 21, 1999--

ASML's Special Applications Unit Introduces

New i-Line and Deep UV Steppers for TFH Processing

Making its entry into the growing market for thin-film head (TFH) production equipment, ASML's Special Applications division (ASML SA) has introduced a new family of lithography systems designed for patterning advanced TFHs used in disk drives. The SA 5500/TFH100 i-line stepper and SA 5500/TFH300 deep UV system are designed to leverage ASML's 15 years of experience in semiconductor fabrication toward creating production-proven lithography systems for the global data storage industry.

Global market demand for TFHs is projected to grow nearly 75 percent from 913 million units in 1998 to more than 1,596 million units by 2001, according to the data storage market research firm Peripheral Research Inc. To mass produce current and future generations of TFHs, manufacturers require lithography systems, which are capable of printing device features measuring less than half of a micron wide.

ASML's new TFH stepper family has the resolution capability necessary to push TFH areal densities over 10 gigabytes per square inch. The imaging, overlay performance and process flexibility of both the SA 5500/TFH100 and the SA 5500/TFH300 enable customers to easily migrate to the next generation of devices.

These new systems provide industry-leading colinearity and lens distortion performance, allowing imaging fields to be reliably and repeatably "stitched" together side by side to produce the elongated rowbars for TFHs used in today's advanced disk drives.

Designed for versatile substrate handling, the ASML machines are capable of processing square TFH substrates up to 4.5 inches and round TFH substrates up to 8 inches in diameter and up to 2 mm thick.

The SA 5500/TFH300 deep UV stepper is capable of 0.25-micron resolution, which can be used for the most critical layers in TFH production. The SA 5500/TFH100 uses i-line lithography to achieve resolution down to 0.4 micron, suitable for patterning less critical TFH features. While both systems may be used independently, these two tools also offer the compatibility to be used together in a manufacturing strategy called mix-and-match, in which the deep UV system exposes the most critical device features and the i-line tool is used for patterning larger geometries. This mix-and-match capability enables TFH manufacturers to leverage their lithography investments and achieve the greatest cost efficiencies in production.

The SA 5500/TFH100 has a specified throughput of more than 100 six-inch-round substrates per hour with a pattern overlay accuracy of less than or equal to 60 nm. For the SA 5500/TFH300, these values are more than 120 substrates per hour and less than or equal to 45 nm.

"Despite the demands of thin-film head lithography, manufacturers have typically had to adapt lithography tools designed for other applications," said Eduard Hoeberichts, vice president and managing director for ASML SA. "ASML has taken its proven lithography experience and used it to design systems to meet the specific needs of thin-film head processing, including superior cost-effectiveness and the flexibility to accommodate different substrate shapes."

About ASML:

ASM Lithography was founded in 1984 and is a world leader in advanced photolithography systems that are essential to the fabrication of modern integrated circuits. The company now has an installed base of more than 1,200 systems at customer sites around the world. Recognized as one of the two largest suppliers of wafer steppers and Step & Scan systems, ASML operates demonstration and application laboratories at its corporate headquarters located in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, and at its U.S. headquarters in Tempe, Arizona. Regional sales and service facilities are located worldwide near its customers' premises.

ASML is publicly traded on both the Amsterdam Exchanges and on the Nasdaq Stock Market(R) under the symbol "ASML." Visit the company's web site at http://www.asml.com for more information on ASML. -0-

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