Applied Materials introduces family of Centura-based Dielectric CVD products; Dielectric CVD Group unveils Centura Platform Migration Strategy, introduces new "DxZ" process chamber.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 10, 1995--Applied Materials has announced the availability of its Dielectric CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) product line on the Centura(TM), the company's next-generation platform.

The Dielectric CVD division also has launched its latest chamber technology, called the "DxZ," on the Centura; the chamber features a completely new, simplified design, a resistive wafer heater and compact, "matchless" RF technology.

Dr. Dragan Ilic, general manager of Applied Materials' DCVD division, said, "Combined with our wide range of Dielectric CVD process technologies, the Centura platform option enables higher throughput -- more than 70 wafers per hour for 3000 Angstom IMD films -- enhanced maintainability and even greater reliability. In addition, the Precision 5000 remains an extremely cost-effective platform, with a very small footprint, four-chamber capacity, and eight years of continuous development behind it. Having the choice of platforms should give our customers tremendous flexibility in meeting their technical and economic requirements."

Dielectric CVD processes now available on the Centura include plasma-enhanced CVD for TEOS and silane-oxide films, such as silicon oxide and silicon nitride. The Centura also is fully compatible with advanced gap-fill technologies, including high-density plasma processes. Centura-based systems will begin shipping in the fourth calendar quarter of 1995. All process technologies being offered on the Centura will remain available on the Precision 5000(R) Dielectric CVD, the global market leading CVD system which recently passed its 1000th system shipment.

The completely new, simplified DxZ chamber design offers significant gains in cost of operation while reducing the number and cost of consumable parts. It replaces the susceptor with a long-lasting, one-piece resistive wafer heating module. The chamber also now incorporates a solid-state RF matching unit for greater reliability and process uniformity. All interior surfaces of the chamber are rounded for more efficient pumping and gas distribution, easier cleaning and reduced particle trapping. In addition, the chamber uses a new Precision Liquid Injection System(TM) for TEOS (tetraethylorthosilicate) delivery, replacing the "bubbler"-type unit used previously. Particle performance is excellent: equal to or less than 0.1/cm squared @ equal to or greater than 0.2 micron.

"This chamber technology lowers our customers' operating costs by cutting consumables and increasing throughput, while setting new standards in serviceability and maintainability. The Centura platform option gives our customers additional productivity benefits, with considerable extendibility for future CVD requirements," Ilic said.

The DxZ chamber technology will be available on both the Centura and Precision 5000 platforms. The DxZ chamber performs all of the processes of the proven Precision 5000 chamber type and process characteristics are virtually transparent; only limited re-qualification will be needed by most customers to rapidly begin using the DxZ chamber in production. Systems with the DxZ chamber have already been shipped to customers in the U.S. and Japan; full production is expected to begin in the fourth calendar quarter of 1995.

Applied Materials, Inc. is a 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 under the symbol, "AMAT."

CONTACT: Applied Materials Inc.

Charles Lewis, 408/748-5819 (editorial/media)

or

Bill Ong, 408/235-6232 (financial community)