Brion's LMC Put in 65nm Volume Production by Crolles2 Alliance; Alliance Also Begins 45nm Development Using Tachyon OPC+.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Brion Technologies today announced the successful completion of its initial joint development agreement with the Crolles2 Alliance, enabling STMicroelectronics, Philips Semiconductors and Freescale Semiconductor to put Brion's Tachyon(TM) LMC, model-based, full-chip, through-process-window, lithography manufacturability verification solution in production on a fully automated 65nm process flow.

Based on the success of the joint development work, which began in April 2005, the Crolles2 Alliance has placed a follow-on order for additional Tachyon capacity, including both Tachyon LMC for 65nm & 45nm RET verification and Tachyon RDI design inspection for 90nm. The alliance has also entered into a new agreement with Brion to develop OPC for 45nm devices. The joint development work will use Brion's Tachyon OPC+, an innovative tool that gives users an accurate and predictable method for creating OPC and RET features without sacrificing speed or cost of ownership.

"Brion's Tachyon LMC model-based, full-chip verification technology fundamentally changes how we approach production of 65nm designs," said Joel Hartmann, operations director for Crolles2, based in Crolles, France. "Using Tachyon, we achieve faster and more predictable cycle times -- accelerating our chip time-to-market."

Both Tachyon LMC and OPC+ use Brion's Focus Exposure Modeling (FEM) technology, an unprecedented one-model, through-process-window, full-chip lithography simulation capability that serves as the basis for achieving exceptional accuracy and speed.

"We're honored to expand our working relationship with the Crolles2 Alliance team, leaders in innovation within the OPC and RET community," said Eric Chen, chief executive officer of Brion. "The success of our strategic partnership validates Brion's Tachyon computational lithography platform, which continues to lead the industry in addressing the challenge of achieving highly accurate lithography modeling and verification without compromising throughput."

The Tachyon platform, noted for its unmatched accuracy and speed for full-chip lithography simulation, fuses the strengths of image-based simulation with the polygon- and contour-based geometry processing used by conventional physical design EDA tools. This hybrid approach enables best-in-class accuracy, comprehensive coverage, predictable run times and flexible user controllability. Since the Tachyon platform first shipped in 2003, thousands of production circuit layers have been processed by Tachyon systems worldwide.

About the Crolles2 Alliance

The Crolles2 Alliance brings together STMicroelectronics, Philips and Freescale in an alliance of unprecedented scope in the microelectronics sector. Their joint Crolles2 center is focusing on specific CMOS technologies at the forefront of semiconductor R&D, including design platform and packaging. The Alliance is currently running 90nm in production, 65nm for prototyping and continues developing CMOS processes at 45nm and, ultimately, the 32nm node.

About Brion Technologies

Brion Technologies, Inc. is the pioneer and leader in Lithography-Driven Design & Manufacturing(TM). Founded in 2002, the privately held company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Brion's Tachyon(TM) platform, a highly accurate and ultra-fast data and simulation engine, enables a unique set of capabilities that address the interrelated challenges of design, photomask making and wafer printing in semiconductor microlithography. The company leads the worldwide emerging market of optical proximity correction (OPC) verification, and is expanding its product portfolio. For further information, visit Brion Technologies' Web site at www.brion.com or call 408-653-1500.

Lithography-Driven Design & Manufacturing and Tachyon are trademarks of Brion Technologies, Inc.