Contact Information: Contacts: Semitool, Inc. Paul Siblerud Vice President 406.752.2107 Pfeiffer High Investor Relations, Inc. Geoff High 303.393.7044 www.pfeifferhigh.com
Semitool Unveils Raider-S(TM) for High Volume Through-Silicon-Via (TSV) and Wafer-Level Packaging (WLP) Production
Raider-S(TM) Design Targets TSV Copper Electroplating for Chip Stacking Production Fabs; New Tool Provides More Than Double the Throughput Capacity of Current System
| Source: Semitool
KALISPELL, MT--(Marketwire - September 30, 2009) - Semitool, Inc. (NASDAQ : SMTL ), a leading
manufacturer of advanced single-wafer electroplating and wafer cleaning
equipment for the semiconductor and wafer-level packaging (WLP) industry,
today unveiled its Semitool Raider-S™ high-performance plating system
for through-silicon-via (TSV) and lead-free micro-bump applications. This
revolutionary high throughput plating tool, which is built on the
established Raider platform, incorporates innovative new stacked
Raptor-S™ chambers with proven membranes and multiple anodes for precise
plating control, as well as new low-cost wafer seals and anodes. Also
incorporated in the Raider-S™ is the capsule copper contamination clean
chamber as well as the advanced pre-wet chamber necessary for successful
void free electroplating on very high aspect-ratio TSV structures.
"Copper electroplating is a key process in TSV fabrication and
traditionally represents a significant portion of the total production
cost," said Paul Siblerud, vice president of Semitool's Wafer Level
Packaging Division. "Semitool has focused on providing a system that
overcomes high consumable costs while significantly increasing the
throughput and maintaining the proven Raider automation. High throughput,
low capital cost, small footprint and quality integration are all key to a
successful TSV plating system. The Raider-S™ is a natural extension of
our long-standing leadership in WLP and TSV electroplating. The
Raider-S™ for iTSV™ is capable of throughputs greater than 24,000
wafers per month."
TSV is a technology that allows chip stacking interconnects to be
fabricated on the wafer using high volume wafer processing equipment. TSV
is currently used on a limited basis but industry experts expect this
segment to experience strong growth going forward.
About Semitool, Inc.
Semitool designs, manufactures and supports highly engineered,
multi-chamber, single-wafer and batch wet chemical processing equipment
used in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. The company's primary
suites of equipment include electrochemical deposition systems for
electroplating copper, gold, solder and other metals; surface preparation
systems for cleaning, stripping and etching silicon wafers; and wafer
transport container cleaning systems. The company's equipment is used in
semiconductor fabrication front-end and back-end processes, including
wafer-level packaging.
Headquartered in Kalispell, Montana, Semitool maintains sales and support
centers in the United States, Europe and Asia. The company's stock trades
on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol SMTL. For more information,
please visit the company's website at www.semitool.com.
Semitool and RAIDER are registered trademarks of Semitool, Inc. Raider-S,
Raptor-S and iTSV are trademarks of Semitool.
Safe Harbor Statement
The matters discussed in this news release include forward-looking
statements, including statements related to the new Raider-S™ system and
its ability to overcome high consumable costs while significantly
increasing throughput and maintaining the proven Raider automation, the
capability of the Raider-S™ for iTSV™ to generate throughputs greater
than 24,000 wafers per month, the anticipated growth of the TSV segment and
our leadership in WLP and TSV electroplating. These statements reflect only
our current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance or
results. These statements also involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions
that could cause actual results or performance to differ materially from
those contained in the forward-looking statements. These risks,
uncertainties and assumptions include general economic conditions,
conditions specific to the semiconductor industry, the financial condition
of our customers, technology changes that affect WLP and TSV, our ability
to compete, design and manufacturing challenges related to the Raider-S™
system, the acceptance of this product by our customers, legal matters and
uncertainties and other risk factors described in our latest Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the period ended September 30, 2008, and our Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q filed thereafter. We assume no obligation to update
forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.