YieldUp International Announces Patent on Contamination-Free Cleaning and Drying Technology for Use in Semiconductor Manufacturing.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 21, 1997--

Patent issued on controlled displacement of liquid, pulsed drying

fluids and wafer carrier techniques used in the Company's cleaning

and drying technology

YieldUP International Corporation (NASDAQ: YILD, YILDZ) announced today that the U.S. Patent Office has issued Patent No. 5,685,327 for the controlled displacement of liquid, pulsed drying fluids and support apparatus techniques used in the Company's cleaning and drying technology. The patent strengthens YieldUP's previously patented Surface Tension Gradient(TM) (STG) technology and CleanPoint(TM) technology in the areas of controlled displacement of liquid, use of plurality of nozzles to control the flow of cleaning and drying fluids, and the placement of wafer carriers in YieldUP's Omega series for cleaning, rinsing and drying wafers and other substrates.

The U.S. Patent Office has allowed one additional patent related to the Company's rinsing and drying technology. YieldUP, to date, has been issued five patents and allowed one additional patent, bringing the total number to six.

"With this additional patent, YieldUP further consolidates its position as the leading supplier for motionless cleaning, rinsing and drying systems," said Raj Mohindra, President and Chief Executive Officer of YieldUP. "YieldUP's patented technology delivers superior cleaning, rinsing and drying results for our growing list of customers in the U.S., Japan and Europe. The award of these patents and the recent favorable patent judgment in our patent dispute with CFMT, Inc. and CFM Technologies has greatly strengthened our competitive position," Mr. Mohindra concluded.

YieldUP's technology is used to clean and dry silicon wafers at various points in the manufacture of integrated circuits, as well as to clean and dry substrates in other defect sensitive industries such as magnetic disks, flat panel displays and photomasks. The process provides significant improvements over conventional Spin Rinse Dryers (SRDs) and IsoPropyl Alcohol (IPA) dryers.

The YieldUP STG cleaning technique utilizes minute (PPM) amounts of isopropyl alcohol in a nitrogen carrier gas that is introduced to wafers submerged in a deionized (DI) water bath. A subsequent drying sequence is completed utilizing heated nitrogen gas. The technique is based on the principle of surface tension differential named after the Italian scientist Marangoni, an early researcher in the field of fluid dynamics.

With the YieldUP system, cleaning and drying is carried out in a single task with no mechanical motion, virtually eliminating the risk of wafer breakage and greatly increasing equipment reliability and operating life when compared to the traditional SRD technology. In addition, the YieldUP process achieves significant reductions in the use of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) when compared to standard IPA dryers. Excessive emissions of IPA are a major environmental concern for semiconductor manufacturers.

YieldUP International Corporation, founded in 1993, develops, manufactures, and markets innovative cleaning, rinsing, and drying equipment designed to enable new processes and to improve manufacturing yields of semiconductor and other defect sensitive industries such as flat panel displays and magnetic disks. Visit our website on the World Wide Web at http://www.yieldup.com for more detailed information on the Company's patents and the Company's breakthrough products.

CONTACT: Abhay Bhushan

Mona J. Walsh

Chief Financial Officer

Stephen D. Axelrod, CFA 

YieldUP International Corporation

Susan T. Bolen (Media)

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or

Wolfe Axelrod Associates

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Web contact: www.yieldup.com

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