BOC Edwards Launches New On-Site Fluorine Generator at FPD TAIWAN.

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- BOC Edwards, a leading supplier of materials, equipment and services to the flat panel display (FPD) manufacturing industry, announced today the launch of the Generation-F(TM) 1600, a new addition to its family of on-site fluorine generators. The Generation-F 1600 will be introduced at FPD(R) TAIWAN 2005, Taipei, June 8-10, 2005.

Development of this system follows the introduction of the Generation-F(TM)80 and the Generation-F(TM)400, the first commercial on-site fluorine generators specifically designed for the CVD (chemical-vapor deposition) chamber cleaning market. The Generation-F 1600 integrates on-demand electrolytic fluorine production with purification and compression in a compact, ventilated enclosure and delivers up to 65 kg of high-purity fluorine per day to the process tool. With its high capacity output, the Generation-F1600 is the first BOC Edwards generator specifically designed to support fluorine plasma cleaning of liquid crystal display (LCD) tool platforms. "The new Generation-F 1600 is designed to drive down the cost of cleaning the larger sized CVD chambers used in Generation 6, 7 and 8 fabs," said Graham Hodgson, BOC Edwards general manager, fluorine.

"We're looking forward to showing FPD Taiwan visitors this exciting addition to our product line," Hodgson said, "and demonstrating how this high- flow system reduces chamber cleaning cost of ownership versus NF3 (nitrogen trifluoride) for the large scale cleaning applications used in the LCD industry."

BOC Edwards, part of The BOC Group (NYSE:BOX, LSE:BOC), is a leading supplier of materials, process-enabling subsystems and services to fabs and OEMs involved in the manufacture of microelectronics devices. Serving two million customers in more than 50 countries, The BOC Group is one of the largest and most global of the world's leading gases companies, with annual sales of GBP 4.6 billion (more than US$8 billion) in 2004. Information on the BOC Group can be accessed by visiting the Group web site, www.boc.com. Specific information on BOC Edwards can be found at www.bocedwards.com. E-mail inquiries can be sent to [e-mail].