Brion Joint Paper Turns Heads at European Mask and Litho Conference; Named One of Conference's Top Three Papers.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Brion Technologies today announced that its co-authored paper, "Using Design Intent to Qualify and Control Lithography Manufacturing," was voted one of the three best papers by attendees at the recent European Mask and Lithography Conference, held in Dresden, Germany.

Co-authored by Freescale Semiconductor and Applied Materials, the paper describes a method for addressing the growing disparity between IC designs and the real-world circuit patterns that are ultimately printed on wafers. In the paper, the authors discuss how optical proximity correction (OPC) "hot spots" can be detected by Brion's Tachyon lithography design verification products and then measured and monitored on the Applied VeritySEM metrology system using its OPC Check solution. The approach significantly improves manufacturing, predictability, yield and control in low-k1 lithography.

"We're delighted that conference attendees saw significance and value in the work between Brion and our esteemed co-authors from Freescale and Applied. It's an honor to be recognized in such a prestigious forum," said Eric Chen, chief executive officer of Brion. "Our joint effort clearly demonstrates results that enable faster time to market and lower risk of yield loss. In addition, we've shown that full-chip lithography simulation is a powerful, predictable tool that can be used to drive and optimize OPC designs."

Joint authors of the paper are Jim Vasek, Bill Wilkinson, Dave Smith, Al Reich and Cesar Garza, all of Freescale Semiconductor; Youval Nehmadi, Moshe Poyastro, Zamir Abraham and Brian Troy from Applied Materials; and Brion's Jim Wiley and Joyce Zhao.

The paper also is scheduled for presentation during the 31st annual SPIE Microlithography conference being held February 19-24, 2006 in San Jose, Calif.

About EMLC 2006

A three-day event, the European Mask and Lithography Conference is dedicated to the science, technology, engineering and application of mask technologies, of lithography technologies, and of associated technologies (like data processing, resist, metrology, inspection and application). This conference is an internationally recognized meeting in its 22nd year. It annually has brought together scientists, researchers, engineers and developers from research institutes and companies to present papers at the forefront of the technologies mentioned above. The conference gives an overview of the present status in mask and lithography technologies and their future strategies. It provides a place where mask makers, mask users and their tool suppliers find the opportunity of becoming acquainted with new development and results. The conference also gives experts the opportunity to meet with leading experts in fields of common interest.

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 [phone].

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