Freescale and ASM International N.V. Announce Cooperation on Epitaxy for Advanced CMOS Transistor Technologies


AUSTIN, Texas, PHOENIX, Ariz. and BILTHOVEN, Netherlands, June 14, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE:FSL) (FSL.B) and ASM International N.V. (Nasdaq:ASMI) (Euronext Amsterdam:ASM) have agreed to continue their collaboration on process technologies for the production of advanced CMOS integrated circuits.

Freescale and ASMI, which have collaborated in the past, are developing selective epitaxy for CMOS transistor structures. Selective epitaxial growth induces strain in the channel region of the transistor. Strained Si increases carrier mobility, resulting in increased current output. The companies are investigating methods specifically tuned to optimize the performance of CMOS devices in conjunction with the use of both bulk and silicon-on-insulator wafers.

Process development takes place on ASM Epsilon systems at ASM's Phoenix development laboratory and Freescale's Austin facilities. The companies will discuss so-called "recessed source and drain" integration into thin-body SOI wafers in a paper to be presented at the VLSI conference in Kyoto, Japan, June 14-16.

"This agreement is a highlight of a long and fruitful relationship between Freescale and ASMI," says Arthur del Prado, president and CEO of ASMI. "Almost from the beginning of the introduction of ASM's unique approach in epitaxy with the single-wafer Epsilon reactor, Freescale has readily applied the technology to manufacturing Si bipolar and the much more complex SiGe heterojunctions devices. Thanks to the efforts developed more recently in the CMOS technology, remarkable integration results have been achieved with strained Si using very advanced processing technologies. This extended alliance underlines the desire to continue this work in an even more dedicated way, which will be of great benefit to Freescale and its partners."

The collaboration is part of Freescale's ongoing commitment to develop technologies that enable customers to offer superior products at competitive prices.

"Freescale is recognized as a leader in advanced logic and communication devices in part because we work with the leading suppliers," said Joe Mogab, senior technical fellow and director of Freescale's Advanced Products Research and Development Laboratory. "The ASM and Freescale epitaxy program is expected to deliver increased process capabilities and advantageous manufacturing efficiency to next-generation CMOS transistors."

About Freescale Semiconductor: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (NYSE:FSL, FSL.B) is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. Freescale became a publicly traded company in July 2004 after more than 50 years as part of Motorola, Inc. The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries. Freescale, a member of the S&P 500(R), is one of the world's largest semiconductor companies with 2004 sales of $5.7 billion (US). www.freescale.com

About ASM International:

ASM International N.V. is headquartered in Bilthoven, the Netherlands. ASM International is a global company, serving one of the most important and demanding industries in the world. The company possesses a strong technological base, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, a competent and qualified workforce and a highly trained, strategically distributed support network. ASM International's subsidiaries design and manufacture equipment and materials used to produce semiconductor devices. ASM International and its subsidiaries provide production solutions for wafer processing, assembly and packaging through their facilities in the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia. ASM International's common stock shares trade on Nasdaq (symbol ASMI) and the Euronext Stock Exchange in Amsterdam (symbol ASM). For more information, visit ASM's Web site at http://www.asm.com

Safe Harbor Statement under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements regarding orders, earnings development and the effects of research and new products on ASM's future, and other matters discussed in this statement, except for any historical data, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to economic conditions in the semiconductor industry, currency fluctuations, the timing of significant orders, market acceptance of new products, competitive factors, risk factors related to litigation and other risks indicated in filings from time to time with the SEC and Stock Exchange Authorities.


 ASM Contact: 
 Willem Vermeulen 
 Director Central Marketing 
 ASM International N.V. 
 Tel: +31-30-2298411 
 E-mail: willem.vermeulen@asm.com

 Investor Relations Contact: 
 MaryJo Dieckhaus 
 Investor Relations 
 ASM 
 Tel: +1-212-986-2900  
 E-mail: maryjo.dieckhaus@asm.com

 Freescale Media Contact: 
 Adrienne Lallo  
 Corporate Media Relations 
 +1 512-895-2795 
 alallo@freescale.com

ASM, Epsilon, Pulsar and Emerald are registered trademarks of ASM International.

Freescale(TM) and the Freescale logo are trademarks of Freescale Semiconductor Inc. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. (C) Freescale Semiconductor Inc. 2005

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