Genus Introduces World's First Plasma-Enhanced CVD Tungsten Nitride Process Module and Low-Cost Integrated Amorphicide; New Films Offered on LYNX2 Modular, Single Wafer CVD Platform.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 15, 1997--Genus, Inc. (NASDAQ:GGNS) a leading provider of equipment and process simplification solutions to the semiconductor industry, today announced the world's first plasma-enhanced CVD tungsten nitride process module and a new integrated amorphicide process that enables a throughput advantage of more than 30 percent over competing systems.

In a press conference at the SEMICON West '97 exposition, Dr. Patrice Geraghty, director of thin film strategic marketing at Genus, said both films have undergone testing at customer beta sites and are now available for sampling on LYNX2(TM), a production-proven, high-throughput, modular, single-wafer CVD tool originally named the Genus 7000 system.

This new tungsten nitride film is a plasma-enhanced CVD barrier film that enables gigabit-scale DRAM device production by serving as the top barrier electrode for tantalum oxide capacitors. It has also proven to be a superior barrier for copper diffusion relative to titanium nitride, and can be used as an adhesion layer for blanket tungsten.

The film is amorphous as deposited at 325 degrees centigrade and remains so up to 500 degrees centigrade. It also acts as an excellent barrier even when deposited to thicknesses of 75 angstroms, making it particularly interesting for advanced interconnect technology.

"Genus' tungsten nitride makes tomorrow's technology a reality in today's highly competitive marketplace," said Geraghty. "Many of our customers are already looking at the 256-Mbit generation in R&D, and are evaluating materials for 0.18-micron-level manufacturing. We are very excited about the prospects for this new film and the positive results that our customers have experienced in beta testing," she continued.

Geraghty said tungsten nitride will enable Genus to compete in new areas of the logic market, since it can be used as a barrier film for copper. She added that the company has filed for a patent on the proprietary, low-temperature, low-particle chemistry used in its tungsten deposition process.

Genus' other new film technology, integrated amorphicide, is the first to combine in-situ doped amorphous silicon with DCS silicide on the same platform. This high-throughput process offers chipmakers higher film quality and lower cost-of-ownership compared with competing systems. The Genus system does not require deposition of an undoped polysilicon "cap" layer to prevent silicide film peeling. The elimination of the "cap layer" step allows this film to achieve throughput advantages of more than 30 percent.

Amorphous silicon gates provide new opportunities to achieve smoother films and interfaces and offer alternatives for engineering the silicon grain size. Undoped amorphous silicon enables higher performance of dual-doped gates in logic applications. "With integrated amorphicide, we've taken an existing technology that has had difficulties in manufacturing over several years and made it production-worthy," Geraghty said. "Genus' LYNX2 integrated amorphicide is up to 30 percent less expensive to produce than competing films, and has been designed for low maintenance."

Tungsten nitride and integrated amorphicide are the latest film technologies introduced by Genus in recent months. In December, the company introduced a low-resistivity, low-stress dichlorosilane film called LRS silicide that has received positive reviews from Genus' customers, particularly those in Asia.

VLSI Research, Inc., a market research firm, said demand for these film technologies will remain strong over the next five years. The firm is forecasting a 16.8 percent compound annual growth rate for barrier metal tools between 1997 and 2002, while the silicide metal film tools market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22.4 percent over the same period.

Founded in 1982, Genus, Inc. develops, manufactures, markets and services advanced thin film deposition and high energy (MeV) ion implantation equipment used in the fabrication of advanced semiconductor devices. The company's customers include semiconductor manufacturers located throughout the United States, Europe and the Pacific Rim, including Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Genus' corporate offices are located at 1139 Karistad Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089; telephone: [phone]; fax: [phone]; e-mail: [e-mail]; Internet: www.genus.com . -0-

Note to Editors: This news release is available through BW NewsOnDemand Plus by calling 1-888-BUY-GGNS.

CONTACT: Genus, Inc.

Nancy Ellickson, 408/747-7120

[e-mail]

or

Mathews & Clark

Walt Mathews, 408/736-1120

[e-mail]