Media Advisory/Symposium Spotlights High-k/Metal Gates.

Industry Leaders to Discuss the Semiconductor Industry's Next Big Challenge

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- IEEE SCV-EDS(1) will host a full-day technical symposium with distinguished technologists and researchers from the world's leading semiconductor companies and universities to discuss the transition to new high-k dielectric materials and metal gates for next-generation transistors. The ability to integrate high-k/metal gates will remove one of the industry's major barriers to scaling semiconductor technology. The symposium will be held on October 26, 2006 at Hotel Valencia in San Jose, Calif. The event is co-sponsored by Applied Materials.

After years of intensive R&D efforts, tremendous progress on engineering manufacturable high-k/metal gates is now being reported, paving the way for the one of the most significant changes in transistor technology. Exploring this progress, the symposium is titled, Has the Time Arrived for Manufacturing High-k/Metal Gates?

"This event provides an opportunity for attendees to hear first hand from technologists and research experts about the implications and challenges of integrating high-k and metal gates into the process mainstream," said Dr. Jeff Watt, Chairman, IEEE SCV-EDS. "By fostering discussion and sharing insights, the industry can more quickly find and implement solutions that will allow everyone to benefit."

Who:    AMD, Freescale, IBM, Micron, North Carolina State University,
        SEMATECH, Stanford University, Toshiba, Xilinx, and
        Applied Materials

Where:  Hotel Valencia, 355 Santana Row, San Jose, California 95128
        Parking at the hotel is complimentary

When:   October 26, 2006 from 8:30a.m. to 5:00p.m.

For registration and other program information, interested persons should visit the Applied Materials home page at http://appliedmaterials.com/Highk_MetalGate.html

About the IEEE: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. is the world's largest technical professional society. Through its 365,000 members in 150 countries, the society is a leading authority in a wide variety of areas, ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. Dedicated to the advancement of technology, the IEEE publishes 30 percent of the world's literature in the electrical/electronics engineering and computer science fields, and has developed more than 900 active industry standards. The organization also sponsors or co-sponsors more than 300 international technical conferences each year.

Applied Materials, Inc. is the global leader in Nanomanufacturing Technology(TM) solutions for the electronics industry with a broad portfolio of innovative equipment, service and software products. At Applied Materials, we apply Nanomanufacturing Technology to improve the way people live. Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com

(1) IEEE Santa Clara Valley-Electron Devices Society