Applied Materials Offers Complete, Advanced Product Line for Copper Manufacturing
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 8, 1999--
New Electroplating and CMP Products Complete the Company's
Comprehensive Line of Next-Generation Technologies to Enable
Volume-Production of High-Performance Copper Chips
Applied Materials, Inc., the world's largest supplier of wafer fabrication systems and services to the global semiconductor industry, today introduced its new Millennia(TM) Electra(TM) ECP (ElectroChemical Plating) and Mirra(R) Electra CMP systems. These new systems complete the company's comprehensive line of products to enable the high-volume manufacturing of copper interconnect structures for high-speed semiconductor chips.
Volume production of copper interconnects will enable chipmakers
to fabricate smaller, more cost-effective devices that operate with
higher performance and lower power. Advanced data communications,
computing, telecommunications, graphics and consumer electronics
applications are all expected to benefit from the availability of
copper chip designs. With the addition of next-generation
electroplating technology and a production-capable copper CMP process,
Applied Materials is the only company that offers products for all the
key process steps required to build the interconnect structures of
these advanced chips.
"We are pleased to be able to provide our customers with such a
wide range of solutions to their manufacturing requirements," said Dr.
David N.K. Wang, senior vice president and member of the Office of the
President of Applied Materials. "In addition to offering a complete
line of advanced individual copper production systems, we've also
combined these technologies into a fully integrated equipment set that
is optimized to deliver the performance and productivity required for
cost-effective manufacturing. This Total Solutions(TM) approach
provides customers with much greater leverage to quickly move their
copper designs into volume production should the demand for these
chips accelerate in the next several years as expected."
The new Millennia ECP and Mirra Cu CMP systems join Applied
Materials' Endura(R) Barrier & Seed system to form the Electra Copper
metal module of products for filling and polishing copper interconnect
circuitry. These products are offered as individual systems or as part
of Applied Materials' Copper Interconnect Equipment Set Solution(TM)
which provides customers with the equipment, integrated process
technology and guaranteed electrical results for manufacturing dual
damascene interconnect structures. Customers can develop and test a
complete copper interconnect process flow in Applied Materials'
Equipment and Process Integration Center, the first facility of its
kind in the industry to provide this advanced capability.
Applied Materials is the global market leader in most of the key
technologies required for producing copper interconnects, including
etch, dielectric chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor
deposition (PVD), rapid thermal processing (RTP) and chemical
mechanical polishing (CMP). The company's defect detection and
metrology products also are strong performers in their markets.
Applied Materials, Inc. is a Fortune 500 global growth company
and the world's largest supplier of wafer fabrication systems and
services to the global semiconductor industry. Applied Materials is
traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol "AMAT."
Applied Materials' web site is www.appliedmaterials.com.
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CONTACT: Applied Materials, Inc.
Betty Newboe, 408/563-0647 (editorial/media)
Carolyn Schwartz, 408/748-5227 (financial)
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED PRODUCT