BERNIN, France and BILTHOVEN, The Netherlands-May 22, 2003-Soitec (Euronext Paris) and ASM International N.V. (NASDAQ: ASMI and Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) today announced a strategic partnership to ensure the commercial manufacturability of strained silicon-on-insulator (sSOI) substrates, the newest addition to Soitec's portfolio of innovative engineered silicon materials. This partnership combines Soitec's and ASM's technologies to enable the manufacturing of leading-edge integrated circuits (ICs).
Under the agreement, Soitec and ASM will partner to leverage Soitec's proven Smart Cut® technology and ASM's manufacturing tool, the Epsilon® 3000 epitaxial reactor, to create the industry's first high-volume, production-worthy sSOI substrate solution. The new agreement extends a previous collaboration on Soitec's 300-mm UNIBOND® SOI wafers using ASM's award winning Advance® 400 Series vertical furnaces.
Soitec is the leading producer and supplier of SOI wafers that meet the most stringent wafer specifications, and counts the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers among its customers. ASM has developed strained silicon and selective epi processes on silicon wafers, and delivered Epsilon 3000 machines to support major U.S. semiconductor device manufacturers' efforts to integrate strained silicon into next-generation devices.
Soitec President André Auberton-Hervé noted, "Materials and equipment providers must work closely together, and with IC manufacturers, to deliver advanced solutions that meet their stringent requirements. These kinds of partnerships are key to accelerating innovation and facilitating integration of these innovative solutions into customers' product development efforts. We are pleased to enter into this joint development program with ASM, and we look forward to working closely together to provide the industry with leading-edge sSOI material."
Arthur del Prado, CEO of ASM International, stated, "This partnership with Soitec is one that takes advantage of our respective strengths and mutual reputation for innovation. By working together, we have a unique opportunity to accelerate the commercialization of sSOI and benefit the semiconductor industry at large. The selection of ASM's Epsilon 3000 reactor as the high-volume tool for strained silicon production confirms its proven track record in production environments, especially because it emphasizes the leading role ASM plays in the gradually expanding advanced silicon germanium (SiGe) technology markets."
Dr. Armand P. Ferro, Epitaxy Business Unit Manager at ASM, added, "The Epsilon's unique reactor design allows IC manufacturers to enhance their productivity, yield and process performance, while lowering cost of ownership. This partnership with Soitec to commercialize sSOI further extends ASM's leadership in supplying single-wafer epitaxial tools with unique production solutions for precisely controlled epitaxial structures. ASM's strategy has always been to drive research and to develop technology partnerships to ensure it is at the forefront of Moore's Law."
The semiconductor industry is facing a paradigm shift: one in which the materials used to manufacture chips are changing dramatically. As design rules continue to shrink, chipmakers are increasingly seeking ways to overcome the inherent limitations of bulk silicon and traditional CMOS designs. As a result, they require more advanced substrate materials to develop new device designs for manufacturing future-generation ICs. Engineered silicon substrates, such as SOI, are already in use for leading-edge 130-nm and 90-nm technologies. sSOI will be needed in coming generations of 65-nm devices and beyond, to permit significant advantages in device speed, power consumption and packing density (see Editors' Note for further technology details).
This partnership, which combines the leadership of both Soitec in engineered SOI substrates and ASM in epitaxial reactors and processes, will accelerate the industrialization of sSOI for 200-mm and 300-mm semiconductor substrates.
About Soitec:
Soitec is the world's leading manufacturer and supplier of SOI wafers, with greater than 80-percent market share. Headquartered in Bernin, France, Soitec provides a broad range of advanced thin-film substrates for IC manufacturing, including bonded SOI (UNIBOND®) and silicon-on-quartz (SOQ) wafers. Soitec is traded on the French "Nouveau Marché" at the Paris Stock Exchange. Stock index converted into dollars can be consulted on the Internet at: http://www.semindex.org. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.soitec.com
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
Safe Harbor Statement under the US 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.
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Editors' Note: SOI material, which incorporates a layer of silicon on an embedded layer of silicon dioxide, enables SOI-based chips to function at significantly higher speeds while reducing electrical losses-enabling a 2- to 3x reduction in power consumption and a 20- to 30-percent improvement in device speed. In the newer strained silicon, electrons experience less resistance and flow faster, resulting in a 20- to 30-percent increase in transistor performance. Combining these technologies, in the form of sSOI material, will enable chipmakers to realize the cumulative benefits of both technologies, helping them bring faster, more power-efficient chips to market, while assuring SOI-based technology continuity.
Smart Cut and UNIBOND are registered trademarks of Soitec.
ASM, Epsilon and Advance are registered trademarks of ASM International.
