BILTHOVEN, The Netherlands, Oct. 10, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- ASM International N.V. (Nasdaq:ASMI) (Euronext Stock Exchange in Amsterdam:ASM) today announced that its subsidiary, ASM Europe B.V., has developed a low-cost Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD) process for Poly-crystalline Silicon Germanium (SiGe) films on 300-mm wafers. The films are deposited in ASM's A400(tm) and A412(tm) vertical furnaces.
ASM has already established a leading position in Poly-SiGe applications with its single wafer epitaxial reactor, the Epsilon(r) reactor. With the introduction of Poly-SiGe in a vertical furnace, ASM can now offer this process for applications in a batch reactor.
Application of SiGe films is projected in advanced CMOS gate stack structures for devices with 130 nm and below geometries. According to the ITRS road map, the introduction of Poly-SiGe gate electrodes will likely occur in the 2002-2003 time frame. With product load sizes of 100 to 150 wafers, a typical Poly-SiGe gate stack process in the Advance(r) 400 Series vertical batch furnaces leads to productivity numbers as high as 40 wafers per hour, per reactor for 100 wafer load sizes.
"This process development is another example of ASM keeping its customers one step ahead of the industry's roadmap with leading-edge process technology," said Albert Hasper, ASM's global product manager for vertical furnaces. "Furthermore, these gate materials can be combined with ultra-thin gate oxides in our dual-reactor A400 and A412 vertical furnaces, thus providing another key CMOS transistor process. By combining two critical gate stack processes in one system, the A400 and A412 furnaces provide a significant cost of ownership reduction for our customers."
The A412 vertical furnace from ASM has been selected for more than half of the 300-mm fabs operating today. The tool can be equipped for both 200-mm and 300-mm wafers, and it is the first vertical furnace to have a configuration using dual reactors and dual boats. This configuration guarantees uninterrupted processing, optimum throughput, as well as the economic benefits of shared resources within a minimized footprint.
About ASM
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.
ASM is a registered trademark of ASM International.
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