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.

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