Applied Materials Introduces Deep Trench Etch Technology for Sub-100 Nanometer DRAM Manufacturing.

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SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 13, 2001

Advanced High Aspect Ratio Trench (HART) Silicon Etch Chamber

for 200mm or 300mm Wafers Proven Production-Worthy at

Major Semiconductor Manufacturer

Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT) today introduced the Silicon Etch HART(TM) chamber for etching high aspect ratio trenches to form capacitor structures on 200mm or 300mm wafers. Developed in close cooperation with a major semiconductor manufacturer, the HART chamber is distinguished by its capability to etch greater than 60:1 aspect ratios with excellent process repeatability and uniformity at production-worthy etch rates, making it extendible to 100 nanometer devices and beyond.

Dragan Podlesnik, general manager, Silicon Etch Division of Applied Materials' Etch Products Business Group, said, "The demand for faster, more powerful memory chips has introduced new challenges for DRAM manufacturing, including the need to etch deeper trench structures to meet increased density requirements. To ensure the HART chamber meets evolving industry requirements, we collaborated with a key customer, learning from its extensive production expertise. The result of this joint effort advances the state-of-the-art in high aspect ratio trench technology and productivity. Based on the demonstrated capabilities of the HART chamber, we expect this solution to provide enabling technology for several generations."

Built on the company's proven MERIE (magnetically enhanced reactive ion etch) technology and featuring a new design, the HART chamber is capable of etching uniform trenches with critical dimensions (CDs) measuring less than 80nm. The system's excellent process repeatability and precise chamber matching which are critical parameters for high-volume manufacturing, improve yield by providing uniform results to the edge of the wafer and wafer-to-wafer, lot-to-lot and system-to-system. In addition to the chamber's significant performance advances, increased etch rates support twice the throughput of previous solutions, contributing to new levels of productivity.

"Combining our customer's expertise in manufacturing and our experience in etch process equipment enabled us to develop what we believe is the industry's best production solution for high aspect ratio trench etch," noted John Hoffman, vice president and general manager of Applied Materials Etch Products Business Group. "Applied Materials is the leader in the etch market, and the HART chamber continues its leading position for new generations of memory chips by meeting the industry's need to etch increased aspect ratio trenches with excellent uniformity and no compromise on throughput."

The market for trench etch technology is expected to double over the next five years, growing from $53 million in 2001 to $133 million by 2006, according to Dataquest. The total market for silicon etch, estimated to be $589 million in 2001, is forecast to reach $1.2 billion by 2006.

Implemented on both the 200mm and 300mm versions of Applied Materials' proven Etch Centura platform, the HART system provides high reliability for volume manufacturing, with greater than 35 chambers shipped to date. The platform can be configured with up to four process chambers and features a high-speed robot, further offering operational cost advantages and high productivity.

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.

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