NEWS

Axus Technology And Strasbaugh Team To Offer Improved Carrier Performance for IPEC CMP Systems

CHANDLER, Ariz., July 9, 2004 — A strategic partnership between Axus Technology, a global provider of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, parts, and engineering services for chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), wafer cleaning and wafer-thinning equipment users, and Strasbaugh has led to the release of Strasbaugh’s established ViPPR™ carrier technology for retrofit on IPEC 472 & 372M chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) tools.

The ViPPR carrier provides for immediate improvements in process and yield performance. Key performance advantages include improving the edge exclusion to 3 mm, providing multi-zone back pressure, and optimal center-to-edge uniformity. The retrofit requires minimal downtime and no software changes.

ViPPR is a field-proven carrier with more than 400 production installations. The retrofit for use on IPEC CMP tools will enable performance enhancements for more than 1,000 IPEC CMP tools worldwide. “With ViPPR II ™ technology, the IPEC CMP systems will remain productive while providing better quality at substantially higher yields,” said Allan Paterson, senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Customers can gain the technology improvements offered by the ViPPR II without recapitalizing with today’s multimillion-dollar CMP tools. They can upgrade an entire line with ViPPR carriers for less than the cost of one new tool.”

The ViPPR carrier is available direct from Strasbaugh or as an upgrade on remanufactured tools purchased from Axus Technology. “The development partnership with Strasbaugh is a major success for Axus Technology,” said Dan Trojan, vice president of engineering at Axus Technology. “Delivering improved process performance to end users, while also improving yield and throughput, is an important part of our strategy. Axus’ ability to provide these types of solutions for legacy tools is a result of our extensive OEM product development experience and our strong presence in the secondary equipment market.”

Strasbaugh is an established supplier of precision surfacing solutions. The company offers a range of products related to planarization, polishing, and grinding technologies for use in semiconductor, optical and other technical fields. To learn more about Strasbaugh, visit www.strasbaugh.com .

Axus Technology is a global supplier of equipments, parts, and engineering services for chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) and related technologies. To learn more about Chandler Ariz.-based Axus Technology, visit www.axustech.com.