Applied Materials Introduces New Storage Capacitor Solution for Gigabit DRAMs.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 1998--Applied Materials, Inc. announces the new Tanox xZ Centura, the industry's first production-worthy, high-throughput system to deposit tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5), a high dielectric constant (high (kappa)) material that allows increased bit density in memory devices. The new system will enable semiconductor memory manufacturers to significantly shrink the size of their capacitor structures, thus allowing more die per wafer and the extension of device designs into the gigabit generation. The Tanox xZ Centura's capacitor solution is applicable to the majority of next generation 256Mb/gigabit DRAM and embedded DRAM devices.

"Traditional oxide and nitride-based capacitors are nearing the limits of their charge storage capacity at the current DRAM generation," said Dr. Chris Gronet, vice president of Applied Materials' Thermal Processing Organization. "This high (kappa) tantalum pentoxide solution provides a low-risk path to increased storage density using Applied Materials' highly successful xZ CVD (chemical vapor deposition) chamber technology for easy process flow integration and maximum productivity."

The single-wafer, multi-chamber Centura platform also enables customers to integrate Ta2O5 deposition with Applied Materials' RTP XE (rapid thermal processing) chamber for polysilicon nitridation and Ta2O5 post-anneal on the same system to preserve critical interface properties in the capacitor stack.

"As DRAM geometries shrink, interface control and process integration will be of increasing importance," said Nick Miller, president of Applied Materials' Thermal Process and Implant Product Business Group. "Applied Materials has addressed these issues as part of our Total Solutions(TM) concept. By working with key customers, we have already realized advantages in various tantalum pentoxide integration schemes that achieve the superior electrical properties our customers need for their most advanced devices."

The Tanox xZ Centura uses Applied Materials' proven xZ CVD chamber, with its established liquid delivery system and unique remote microwave clean. In addition to providing a "soft" chamber clean with minimal cost of consumables and no chamber degradation, this innovative technology emits virtually no global-warming perfluorocompound (PFC) emissions. The in-situ clean, combined with the xZ chamber design, enable a rapid clean and recovery for high system uptime. Marathon testing has also demonstrated the system's exceptional reliability and productivity.

"As the industry moves to more sophisticated device designs, the technical, economic and productivity advantages of single-wafer processing over traditional batch technologies are significant," continued Miller. "With the Tanox xZ Centura, customers are seeing integration as another key advantage of single wafer systems, offering the process technology and performance not possible with other systems."

Applied Materials, Inc. is a Fortune 500 global growth company and the world's largest supplier of wafer fabrication systems and services to the global semiconductor industry. Applied Materials is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol "AMAT." Applied Materials' web site is http://www.AppliedMaterials.com.

CONTACT: Applied Materials Inc.

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