Flanders, New Jersey, December 1, 2004 ― Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: RTEC), a leading provider of process control equipment for thin film measurement and macrodefect inspection during integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing, announces a repeat order from a leading U.S. based semiconductor manufacturer for its WaferView® macrodefect inspection tools. While the buyer has previously purchased multiple WaferView 320™ tools for lithography track process monitoring, the recently ordered tool was purchased by the back-end bump process group. It is scheduled to be shipped to the customer in the first quarter of 2005.
"We are excited that chip makers are adopting our WaferView tools for all stages of chip manufacturing, from gate formation to bump inspection," said Nathan Little, Executive Vice President, Rudolph Technologies, Inc. "Rudolph's WaferView technology is established in front-end applications, however, its yield enhancement capabilities are best realized when WaferView is integrated into all critical process steps, including those at the back-end. At this stage of manufacturing most of the process investment has already been made, and the potential return from rapid, advanced macrodefect detection and classification is high."
The newly ordered WaferView tool is planned for use during the back-end bump process to identify yield robbing defects including: bridged bumps, missing bumps, staining, scratches, and particles. Advanced defect inspection capabilities are critical in packaging applications, such as the bump process, where each fully processed wafer represents many thousands of dollars of investment.WaferView addresses the back-end process requirements for high-throughput inspection and fast root-cause analysis of the defects.
"The WaferView system's high-throughput capabilities are ideal for bump inspection, which typically requires 100% inspection of every wafer," added Little.
The WaferView 320 inspects the entire surface of a 300 mm wafer, automatically detecting and classifying defects as small as 20 microns at over 100 WPH. It is part of the WaferView Team™ that is the first to offer real time macrodefect inspection of every wafer at each critical step in the manufacturing process. The complete Team includes i-MOD™ integrated inspection modules for in-line inspection, stand-alone WaferView systems for inspection and review, and YieldView® software that controls Team operations and coordinates defect data throughout the fab.
About Rudolph Technologies, Inc.
Rudolph Technologies is a worldwide leader in the design, development, manufacture and support of high-performance process control metrology and defect inspection systems used by semiconductor device manufacturers. The Company's products provide a full-fab solution through its families of proprietary systems, which are used throughout the device manufacturing process. Rudolph's product development has successfully anticipated and addressed many emerging trends that are driving the semiconductor industry's growth in order to enhance the competitiveness of its products in the marketplace. The Company's success in creating complementary metrology and inspection applications through aggressive research and development is key to Rudolph's strategy for continued technological and market leadership.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected due to a number of risks, including, but not limited to, the impact of the slowdown in the overall economy, the uncertainty of the current global political environment, the potential for terrorist attacks, the potential for business disruptions due to infectious diseases, changes in customer demands for our existing and new products, the timing, cancellation or delay of customer orders and shipments, the timing of revenue recognition of shipments, new product offerings from our competitors, changes in or an inability to execute Rudolph Technologies' business strategy, unanticipated manufacturing or supply problems and changes in tax rules. Rudolph Technologies cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. The matters discussed in this press release also involve risks and uncertainties summarized under the heading "Factors that May Affect Future Results" in Rudolph Technologies' Form 10-K filed for the year ended December 31, 2003. These factors are updated from time to time through the filing of reports and registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rudolph Technologies does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.