Applied Materials' SEMVision Defect Review System Receives Prestigious Best Product Award
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 9, 1999--
Award Validates "SEMVision's Performance and Production-worthiness in Day-to-Day Operations"
Applied Materials, Inc. today announced that its SEMVision(TM) system, the industry's first fully automated Defect Review SEM (scanning electron microscope) designed for in-line production, has been recognized with an Editors' Choice Best Product Award from Semiconductor International magazine. This is one of three Best Product Awards received this year by Applied Materials.
"With our Editors' Choice Best Product Award, we annually recognize 20 outstanding products that advance the semiconductor industry," said Peter Singer, editor-in-chief of Semiconductor International. "Winning this award which is based on customer nominations and a rigorous evaluation process, is an achievement that validates SEMVision's performance and production-worthiness in day-to-day operations."
Launched in May 1998, SEMVision features a patented Multi-Perspective SEM Imaging (MPSI(TM)) technology simultaneously that provides three different perspectives (one enhancing materials and edge contrast while the other two enhance topography contrast) of defects to offer superior imaging capability and very high defect redetection rate. The system's automatic defect classification (Decifer(TM) ADC) technology processes the images in parallel, enabling customers to improve yield learning cycles during fab ramp-up and provide tighter yield control in volume production. The SEMVision is five to ten times faster than manual systems, providing ADC at a throughput of up to 300 defects per hour.
"The Editors' Choice Best Product Award is significant to us because it represents customer approval and satisfaction with this leading-edge system," said Dr. Gino Addiego, president of Applied Materials' Process Diagnostics and Control Group. "Using the SEMVision, companies are rethinking their approach to defect review. Manual SEM review tools, whose operations are often slow and tedious, lack the throughput needed for volume production applications. SEMVision's robust and accurate ADC allows faster source identification at very high throughput with no human intervention."
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 http://www.appliedmaterials.com