Friday, February 28, 2003

Numerical Technologies Collaborates with Applied Materials to Develop 193-nm Lithography Processes

Companies to Work on Resolution Enhancement Technology for 90-nm, 65-nm Technology Nodes at Applied Materials' Process Module Technology Center

SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 27 -- Numerical Technologies, Inc. today announced that it has signed a joint development agreement with Applied Materials, Inc. to address resolution enhancement technologies (RETs) for 193-nm lithography processes. The work, which is focused on providing semiconductor manufacturing solutions for sub-100-nm chip production, will be done at Applied Materials' Maydan Process Module Technology Center (PMTC) in Sunnyvale, Calif.

"Our preliminary work with Numerical Technologies demonstrated significant benefits on our 90-nm test chip designs, enabling us to better understand the impact of subwavelength patterning technology in the development of our Copper Interconnect Process Module^TM," said David Bergeron, corporate vice president responsible for the PMTC at Applied Materials. "By collaborating with Numerical, we expect to accelerate our 90-nm program and rapidly establish 193-nm lithography capability for our customers, eventually extending it to the 65-nm node."

Opened in 2002, Applied Materials' PMTC is the semiconductor equipment industry's largest facility dedicated to the development and integration of processes for production chip manufacturing. The PMTC, which closely simulates an actual fab environment, currently has 248-nm and 193-nm lithography tools and associated track technology. Applied Materials' joint development agreement with Numerical includes the use of its phase-shifting, optical proximity correction and silicon simulation technologies in the PMTC's lithography operations.

"This is a very important milestone for Numerical because it provides the opportunity to showcase our proven technology in a leading-edge development facility used by chipmakers from around the world," said Numerical Technologies' Senior Vice President, Atul Sharan. "It's a tremendous vote of confidence in our product offerings and expertise, and we're looking forward to moving ahead on the project." Sharan added, "Our collaboration with an industry leader such as Applied Materials is beneficial to our long-term technology value, and is ultimately geared toward accelerating our customers' production of faster, more compact and increasingly powerful ICs."


About Numerical

Numerical Technologies, Inc., the world's leading provider of subwavelength lithography-enabling technology, develops and markets proprietary technology, software tools and services that enable the production of subwavelength integrated circuits (ICs) -- ICs with feature sizes that are smaller than the wavelength of light used to create circuit patterns on silicon. Numerical's products and industry alliances form a comprehensive design-to-silicon solution that enables the creation of smaller, faster and more power-efficient ICs using available manufacturing equipment. Numerical's customers include the world's top semiconductor companies, design automation tool vendors, semiconductor equipment suppliers and photomask manufacturers. Additional information about the company is available on the Web at http://www.numeritech.com


Source: Numerical Technologies, Inc.