Tegal Receives Order for 900 Series Etch Systems From ELMOS

    PETALUMA, Calif.--Aug. 13, 2001--Tegal Corp. today announced that ELMOS Semiconductor AG (NeuerMarkt Frankfurt: ELG), a leading manufacturer of application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), has ordered two Tegal 901e diode plasma etch systems. The 901e systems will be used for nitride etching in the production of ASICs for the automotive industry at ELMOS' facility in Dortmund, Germany. Installation is scheduled for completion by October.
    "ELMOS has worked with Tegal for a decade. Tegal systems have consistently provided reliability and stability at a substantially lower cost of ownership than competing tools," said Holger Doring, module plasma manager at ELMOS. "The new Tegal 901e etch systems will enable us to optimize our manufacturing processes as we increase capacity at our facility."
    "This order from ELMOS demonstrates the strong service and performance reputation that Tegal has gained in the marketplace," said Jim McKibben, vice president of worldwide marketing and sales at Tegal. "Our robust 900 Series systems deliver low operating costs for high-productivity manufacturing. They provide production-proven flexibility and reliability as evidenced by this repeat order."
    Tegal's 900 Series systems are widely recognized for their low cost of ownership and high-throughput. More than 1,300 of the 900 Series systems have been installed worldwide and are supported by an extensive worldwide parts and service organization. The 900 Series systems deliver highly reliable, repeatable results in etching a variety of films used to manufacture semiconductor, telecommunications and optoelectronic devices, MEMS, flat panel displays and thin film magnetic heads.
    The system is designed around a production-proven transport system that can accommodate 75 mm to 150 mm round silicon and GaAs substrates. The transport can also be configured to accommodate rectangular substrates from 100 mm to 125 mm on a side. Typical applications include nitride etch, contact/via etch, photoresist descum, LOCOS nitride etch, zero layer etch, backside etch, isotropic oxide etch, non-critical polysilicon etch and titanium/tantalum alloy etch.