Semitool to Provide Vapor Etch System to Freescale; SEMITOOL HF Vapor systems adopted into growing market for Next Generation MEMS devices.

KALISPELL, Mont. -- Semitool, Inc. (Nasdaq: SMTL) announced today receipt of an order from Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (NYSE: FSL) for an HF vapor etch system. The tool will be used in fabrication of advanced Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) at TSC, Freescale's wafer fab in Sendai, Japan.

"Our customers are constantly looking for ways to improve productivity and reduce cost of manufacturing," said Chris Ostrem, Semitool's product manager for batch processing systems. "Unlike competing single wafer tools, this system can process from one to twenty-five wafers at a time, thereby lowering per wafer production costs and improving productivity. The Semitool batch HF vapor etches system ordered by Freescale uses fewer chemicals than liquid based systems and takes up less clean room space than competing technologies."

"When it comes to etch processing, Semitool has demonstrated a cost-effective, quality alternative," said Shigeru Omori, TSC sensor program manager. "Our new vapor etch process will improve the consistency and lower the cost of each step."

MEMS devices are complex micro structures consisting of mechanical and electrical elements, and are used in a variety of consumer, industrial and medical products. As part of the manufacturing process, a layer of silicon dioxide is used to constrain micro-machined parts from movement during the fabrication process; oxide thicknesses can exceed 50 microns. This oxide must be carefully removed to leave the structures free to move. Contamination-free etch and a complete dry are critical parameters in the successful vapor etch processing of MEMS devices.

About Semitool, Inc.

Semitool designs, manufactures and supports highly engineered, single-wafer and multi-wafer wet chemical processing equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. The company's primary suites of equipment include electrochemical deposition systems for electroplating copper, gold, solder and other metals; surface preparation systems for cleaning, stripping and etching silicon wafers; and wafer transport container cleaning systems. The company's equipment is used in semiconductor fabrication front-end and back-end processes, including wafer level packaging.

Headquartered in Kalispell, Montana, Semitool maintains sales and support centers in the United States, Europe and Asia. The company's stock trades on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol SMTL. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.semitool.com.

Semitool is a registered trademark of Semitool, Inc.