Applied Materials Ships 100th High-Productivity Producer System
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 20, 2000--
Introducing the New Producer 'Shrink' Mainframe to Minimize Floor
Space Requirements, Optimize Cost of Ownership
Applied Materials, Inc., the leading supplier of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment to the global semiconductor industry, announced shipment of its 100th Producer(R) system, which provides the industry's highest level of productivity for leading-edge dielectric CVD film applications. To further enhance the productivity benefits of the Producer, Applied Materials is today introducing the Producer S system, a reduced footprint "shrink" model of the platform.
"This major 100th shipment milestone represents significant customer acceptance for the Producer system's revolutionary platform architecture and its capability for high-volume, cost-sensitive manufacturing," noted Farhad Moghadam, vice president and general manager of the Dielectric Systems and Modules Product Group. "We are very grateful for our customers' support and remain committed to satisfying customer demand for greater value by providing innovative enhancements and continuous improvements such as integrated metrology and the new Producer S design."
Producer S offers the same high-throughput benefits as the first-generation Producer in a system footprint that is up to 29 percent smaller. It continues the innovative and streamlined design legacy of the Producer platform to allow chipmakers to increase system productivity per square foot, enabling more efficient utilization of valuable fab floor space.
"By providing the industry-leading manufacturing performance, productivity and reliability of the Producer in a more efficient, compact design, the Producer S system provides a low cost of ownership solution for CVD applications," said Dave Silvetti, general manager, Blanket DCVD Films Product Unit. "This new system carries forward the proven capabilities of the Producer to support customers' most demanding requirements, including deposition of advanced low k dielectric films for copper device development and production."
Beyond the new configuration, the Producer S system features the high throughput capability of Twin Chamber(TM) processing modules and dual-wafer handling. With support for up to three Twin Chamber modules, six wafers can be processed simultaneously for throughputs of more than 130 wafers per hour. Producer S also offers integrated metrology technology that measures film thickness and uniformity to ensure quality processing at very high throughput rates. To virtually eliminate the emission of global-warming perfluorocompound (PFC) gases, the system utilizes Applied Materials' award-winning Remote Clean(TM) technology.
The Producer S system supports a breadth of applications and configurations for depositing dielectric films on multi-level logic and memory devices. Its broad portfolio of technologies, including plasma TEOS, plasma silane, SACVD(TM) and low k film processes are also extendible to the company's 300mm systems.
Dielectric CVD makes up one of the largest semiconductor equipment markets. Dataquest estimates 1999 dielectric CVD system sales to total $1.9 billion, with growth projected to $3.7 billion by 2004. Applied Materials is the global market leader in CVD, including dielectric and metal applications.
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., Santa Clara
Connie Duncan, 408/563-6209 (editorial/media)
Carolyn Schwartz, 408/748-5227 (financial community)