Tegal sells 900 Series etch system for biochip fab to Zyomyx.

Tegal Corporation (Nasdaq:TGAL) has announced the sale of a 903e plasma etch system to Zyomyx, Inc. The tool, which will manufacture biochip components used in high-throughput, massively parallel protein analysis systems, was selected by Zyomyx based on superior process results, versatile process flexibility, and on Tegal's reputation for outstanding customer support. Tegal expects to install the etch system in early January 2003.

Biochip fabrication, one of the many kinds of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) fabrication processes now reaching volume production, involves a cross-disciplinary synergy between silicon device fabrication, the design and fabrication of microfluidic structures, and the preparation and modification of thin film surfaces and their chemistries.

The Tegal etch tool will be used by Zyomyx to create Protein Profiling Biochips. Current understanding of the genome and the fact that drugs normally target proteins that genes encode, not the genes themselves, has spawned a new science called "proteomics"--the large-scale study of the vast, still undetermined number of proteins in the human body and their constantly changing form and function. Until recently, tools that could examine only a small fraction of proteins present in a sample at one time limited the productivity of research. Zyomyx' multiplexed, high-throughput Protein Profiling Biochips system lifts the constraints on protein analysis, allowing scientists to engage in more productive and cost-effective protein research.

"Tegal's 900 Series and 6500 Series tools are widely used throughout the world in commercial MEMS fabrication lines," said Jim McKibben, Tegal's vice president of Worldwide Marketing and Sales. "This sale to Zyomyx demonstrates Tegal's commitment to working with MEMS customers to develop etch processes for the ever-expanding collection of innovative MEMS applications being reported today."

Typical roles for Tegal's etching systems used in MEMS and biochip fabrication include producing structures in silicon, silicon nitride, and silicon dioxide, in organic materials like BCB and polyimide and in noble metals, like platinum and gold.

The 903e purchased by the US-based proteomic analysis equipment maker marks the first time the companies have worked together. Tegal's 900 Series systems are widely recognized for their low cost of ownership and high throughput. More than 1,300 of the 900 Series systems have been installed worldwide and are supported by Tegal's extensive worldwide field process and service organization. 900 Series systems deliver highly reliable, repeatable results in etching a variety of films used to manufacture MEMS, silicon ICs, telecommunications and optoelectronics devices, flat panel displays and thin film magnetic heads.