News Article
New tool on the block
Mattson Technology sets new standard with Alpine new photoresist strip product for BEOL and FEOL. Applications at sub 65 nanometre nodes. Initial system shipped to major semiconductor manufacturer in Taiwan
Mattson Technology, a supplier of advanced semiconductor process equipment used to manufacture Integrated Circuits (ICs), announced the release of the Alpine system, the Company's newest innovation targeted to meet the stringent requirements of advanced low temperature photoresist strip processes on back end of line (BEOL) and front end of line (FEOL) applications for future technology nodes with a single tool. The latest addition to Mattson's complete family of dry strip products, Alpine was developed to address the challenges of advanced low-k and other complex materials required to manufacture today's and future ICs. Alpine builds and expands on Mattson's latest production proven platform, the Suprema; and is designed for reliable, high-productivity, low cost of ownership (COO) manufacturing for 65 nanometres and below. The Company noted that it has shipped its initial Alpine system to a major semiconductor manufacturer in Taiwan.
David Dutton, president and chief executive officer, commented, "Technology and productivity leadership is the foundation of the Company's success, and we are pleased to add this newest tool to our highly focused, market-leading product suite. Mattson Technology is the premier strip provider in the foundry market, and the bulk strip market leader. We expect that the Alpine BEOL strip applications will provide Mattson with further growth opportunities, doubling our served available strip market."
Dutton continued, "The launch of the new Alpine system is of significant importance to Mattson and our global customer base. We are introducing a tool with remarkable productivity advantages and with excellent on wafer results to BEOL applications, which will provide a significant benefit to the industry. The majority of manufacturers are currently forced to sacrifice productivity in BEOL due to the use of expensive etchers that typically afford low throughput. In addition, Alpine is well suited to critical dry strip FEOL applications and strengthens the company's positioning across the logic, foundry and memory market segments. The Alpine is another innovative technology that delivers advanced on wafer performance, while delivering the leading productivity our customers expect from Mattson Technology. We are excited to add this new product to our portfolio, further positioning Mattson to outperform the industry as the next investment cycle unfolds."
Sr. Vice President and General Manager of Mattson Technology's Surface Cleaning Group, Neal Holmlund, added, "Mattson's enabling technologies offer compelling process control advantages in addressing customers' challenges in the manufacture of smaller device structures. The new Alpine platform and robot design gives our global customers enhanced throughput, uptime, serviceability and lower Cost of Consumables."
Holmlund continued, "Mattson is proud to have shipped the initial Alpine system to a long time customer. Their selection of our Alpine photoresist strip system is further testament to Mattson's ability to support advanced strip production. Our customer looked to Mattson to provide further improvements in the areas of productivity, reliability and serviceability for their BEOL production. Alpine's innovative system features reliable, high speed vacuum and atmospheric robotics that deliver increased throughput, with an over 40 percent improvement as compared to competitive systems for advanced strip applications." Holmlund concluded, "As a manufacturing partner, Mattson is dedicated to providing our customers with state of the art process technologies on cost effective platforms coupled with a service and support capability to deliver the highest level of customer satisfaction."
