|
|
World-Leading Korean Manufacturer Places Multi-System Order for SEZ Da Vinci? Tools
Memory makers now shifting to advanced single-wafer wet processing solutions for BEOL cleaning
VILLACH, Austria and ZURICH, Switzerland, March 1, 2005?The SEZ Group (SWX: SEZN), the market leader and premier innovator in single-wafer wet-processing technology for the semiconductor industry, today announced that a world-leading memory manufacturer has placed a multiple-system order for SEZ?s Da Vinci? family of cleaning tools. The DV-38F systems will be used for back-end-of-line (BEOL) polymer removal for 300-mm memory devices with sub-90-nm process technologies.
The trend from batch to single-wafer wet processing continues to accelerate as major manufacturers, including those in Korea, move to replace wet benches to accommodate the increasingly stringent surface contamination control requirements associated with more complex, small-geometry ICs. While logic chip manufactures have led this trend, memory makers and foundries are also seeking the cost and performance advantages afforded by single-wafer wet processing for their advanced manufacturing operations.
This order represents a significant competitive win for SEZ, displacing batch tools at a world-leading memory semiconductor maker with its Da Vinci products?which are specifically developed to provide the productivity, cost and yield advantages essential for advanced, high-volume manufacturing applications.
According to Herwig Petschnig, chief operating officer for SEZ Asia-Pacific, ?The SEZ Da Vinci tools offer advantages essential to helping optimize the effectiveness of sub-90-nm, 300-mm high-volume IC production. These tools not only have a unique chamber design that increases our overall productivity, but also provide the necessary flexibility to employ a variety of chemistries in a high-volume manufacturing environment, reducing overall cleaning costs. In particular, the tools are capable of running on new chemistries such as dilute sulfuric peroxide, plus (DSP+)?a chemistry that?s proving increasingly effective in memory production.?
?We are extremely pleased with this important win in Korea, adding to our list of influential industry leaders who have adopted our single-wafer technology,? commented Kurt Lackenbucher, chief operating officer for SEZ Group. ?Our proven Da Vinci family offers significant benefits that help our customers achieve their short time-to-market goals and cost of consumables to a minimum. Korea is a strategic area for SEZ and we will continue to work closely with our customers there to support their needs for single-wafer wet processing technology.?
Propelled by the current industry trends toward increased cost reduction, better yields and higher productivity, the unique rapid market adoption of the Da Vinci platform is exceeding original expectations. Having sold the first Da Vinci tool in Q2 04, SEZ already has multiple Da Vinci tools installed worldwide, and anticipates this product family will represent more than 50 percent of its total sales in 2005.
About SEZ Group
The SEZ Group is the leading provider of single-wafer, wet-clean processing solutions for the global semiconductor industry, with an installed base of over 850 tools. The company maintains operations in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Japan and North America. Since 1996, registered shares of SEZ Holding Ltd. have been traded on the SWX Swiss Exchange under the symbol SEZN. Additional information about the company is available on the Internet at www.sez.com.
|