Applied Materials' 100th Producer 300mm CVD System Shipped to TSMC; Producer System Selected to Deposit Damascene Nitride Film for Copper Interconnects.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 30, 2003

Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT), the semiconductor industry's leading supplier of CVD (chemical vapor deposition) systems, shipped its 100th Producer(R) 300mm CVD system to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC). TSMC purchased the Producer system to deposit Applied Materials' Damascene Nitride film for dielectric barrier and etch stop applications in copper interconnects.

Dr. Mark Liu, vice president of operations at TSMC, said, "The high-productivity Producer platform supports a remarkably wide range of dielectric CVD applications, including lithography-enabling and low-k films. The Producer system is widely used throughout our 200mm and 300mm fabs, where it plays a key part in manufacturing our most advanced chip designs and processes."

The Producer system is used for PECVD (plasma enhanced CVD) and SACVD (sub-atmospheric CVD) applications to deposit silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, dielectric ARC (anti-reflection coatings), and low-k films for copper-based chip manufacturing. Applied Materials' Damascene Nitride film is a production-proven, single-wafer process available exclusively on the Producer system. Featuring a unique in situ copper oxide removal step before nitride film deposition, the Damascene Nitride process provides a homogeneous, high quality film that avoids the interface yield and reliability issues of competing multi-layered nitride films.

"TSMC is one of the leading users of Producer systems, employing virtually all of its many process applications to manufacture a vast range of device designs," stated Dr. Farhad Moghadam, vice president and general manager of Applied Materials' Dielectric Systems and Modules Product Business Group. "This 300mm Producer system being used by TSMC carries forward the many technology innovations and successes of the 200mm Producer platform, which has over 400 systems installed worldwide. Key to the Producer is its high productivity, which provides as much as twice the wafer throughput of the nearest competitor's system, particularly for thick films."

Applied Materials (Nasdaq:AMAT), the largest supplier of products and services to the global semiconductor industry, is one of the world's leading information infrastructure providers. Applied Materials enables Information for Everyone(TM) by helping semiconductor manufacturers produce more powerful, portable and affordable chips. Applied Materials' Web site is http://www.appliedmaterials.com.