Applied Materials Introduces Innovative Total Kit Management Service; CleanCoat TKM Service Product Provides Significant Productivity Gains.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 2002

Applied Materials, Inc. today announced its line of Total Kit Management (TKM(TM)) service products. With a TKM service package, Applied Materials takes full ownership of the inventory and management of its process chamber kits and components, resulting in the highest quality parts and improved chamber performance.

The CleanCoat service, the first of several TKM products planned by Applied Materials, is designed to significantly extend process kit life and decrease particles. It features proprietary process kit materials and technologies that can increase kit life up to four times, providing higher system availability for greater productivity and lower maintenance costs.

"Process chamber cleans are required to remove particles and other contaminants that accumulate during wafer processing," said David J. Fried, corporate vice president and general manager of Applied Materials' CPS Product Business Group. "By having Applied Materials manage the entire process kit operation, customers can leverage our extensive investments in surface processing technology, inventory management and logistics. The CleanCoat TKM product helps our customers to achieve their productivity and cost management objectives."

At the heart of the CleanCoat product is a proprietary surface process technology that improves kit life and quality. This technology prevents contamination and reduces particulates in the chamber by using a special material to coat the process kit surfaces. Compared to standard kit offerings, CleanCoat technology can increase mean wafers between cleans (MWBC) from 5,000 wafers to 20,000 wafers while providing more than a 40 percent decrease in particle defects on a wafer.

Under the TKM program, a CleanCoat contract covers kits, inspection, maintenance and refurbishment operations as well as the inventory, labor, logistics and shipping associated with the kits. Service specifications for 100 percent kit availability, integrity, reliability and quality, supports increased system uptime, utilization and productivity. The combined features of the CleanCoat TKM can result in customer savings of up to 20 to 40 percent per chamber.

CleanCoat is currently available first for Applied Materials' physical vapor deposition (PVD) chambers, including PCII, PCIIe, RPC, SIP Ta/TaN, 101 TiN. Multiple customers worldwide are utilizing the CleanCoat TKM, with over one million wafers processed.

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