Applied Materials Cooperates with Leica to Offer Total Solutions for Defect Reduction.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 30, 1998--

Collaboration Provides Customers with Complete Demonstration Set of Defect Detection and Characterization Tools

Applied Materials, Inc. and Leica Microsystems will cooperate to provide customers with a full set of systems for defect detection, classification and source analysis. As part of this collaboration, Leica will place its most advanced optical defect review station, the INS 3000, at Applied Materials' Process Diagnostics and Control (PDC) facilities in Santa Clara, California and Narita, Japan, to enable combined system demonstrations for customers.

"Leica's optical defect review system is an excellent complement to our wafer inspection and defect review SEM (scanning electron microscope) products," said Dr. Israel Niv, vice president of marketing for Applied Materials' PDC group. "The combination of systems provides customers with the most efficient and comprehensive defect reduction capability possible for their mos system with our new SEMVision(tm) defect revie have worked together for several years, with Leica providing the microscope technology used on several of Astem and in the company's SEMVision system whereuding the WF-736 DUO defect detection system, Sation of detected defects, the larger-sized defstems are approximately one-third the cost of an SEM system, the INS 3000 and SEMVision complement each othetz Hohn, general manager of Leica Microsystems, an offer our customers a high-productivity, efficient solution that works with all kinds of defect types anent used for microscopy, the preparation of mic0 global growth company and the world's largest supplier of wafer fabrication systems and services to the glterials' web site is http://www.AppliedMaterials, 408/748-5227

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