SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 31, 2004—KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) and SII NanoTechnology (SIINT), a subsidiary of Seiko Instruments, have announced they have formed a partnership to distribute SIINT's Nanopics 2100 high-speed, high-resolution atomic force profilometer to markets outside of Japan. Under the terms of the agreement, KLA-Tencor will sell the Nanopics 2100 as a joint product in North America and Europe with the full backing of its best-in-class system characterization and applications support—enabling broader access to this innovative surface metrology solution. The Nanopics 2100 is a compact tabletop system that combines the high resolution of an atomic force microscope (AFM) with the ease of use and speed of a surface profiler to enable non-destructive, absolute measurements of surface roughness, step height and surface contour. It is used to help ensure product quality for applications in a wide variety of industries, including data storage, semiconductor, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), as well as polymer science, optics, biotechnology, and general industrial research.

"KLA-Tencor's global distribution network and three decades of experience in semiconductor process control will prove invaluable in helping us proliferate our AFM technology into new regions and new applications," stated Dr. Hiroyuki Funamoto, president and chief executive officer of SII NanoTechnology. "Together, KLA-Tencor and SII NanoTechnology will leverage each company's leading-edge expertise to continue to meet the increasingly demanding measurement and analysis requirements of advanced manufacturing processes."

Nanopics 2100: Providing the best of two worlds

Surface profilers have traditionally been used to measure surface roughness and step height. However, for many of today's innovative industrial and electronics applications, higher resolution is needed to measure the nanometer-scale variations in surface topography and step height that can affect product quality. AFMs can achieve the resolution required by these applications, but often at the expense of scan length, which restricts the applications that AFMs can address. The Nanopics 2100 overcomes these limitations, combining nanoscale 3-D surface imaging with a maximum scan size of 0.8mm x 0.8mm, and a vertical range an order of magnitude greater than that of traditional AFMs. The vertical range enables the system to measure the surfaces of objects as diverse as thin-film heads and small optical lenses, with nanometer-scale precision. The wide lateral scan range enables the system to characterize large structures, such as secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) craters.

"Measurement of the depth of the sputtered craters for calibration of the depth scale for quantitative SIMS depth profile analysis is critical," stated Dr. Phillip Russell, professor of materials science and engineering, and director of the Analytical Instrumentation Facility, at North Carolina State University. "While stylus profilometers are traditionally used to measure the depths of most of these craters, they cannot accurately measure crater depths less than a few nanometers and they are unable to characterize the topography of the crater bottom, which can correlate to SIMS data quality. Until now, we have had to use both a stylus profilometer and an AFM to obtain complete crater measurement information, a time consuming and cumbersome process. Using the Nanopics 2100, we have been able to acquire highly accurate depth and surface profile measurements of very shallow craters with one instrument, providing the complete data set significantly more quickly and easily."

The Nanopics 2100 provides the fastest time to results of any scanning probe instrument on the market. Small-area scans can be acquired in as little as 30 seconds, while the largest scans can be completed in five minutes. In addition to having significantly smaller footprint than that of competitive systems, the Nanopics 2100 is far easier to operate and maintain. The tip exchange process, an often difficult and time-consuming task with AFMs, has been streamlined through the use of self-sensitive and self-calibrating cantilevers. On-board probe analysis minimizes the chance that scan artifacts will drive incorrect decisions.

"Nanometer-level process variations can affect product quality for advanced manufacturing processes across a wide variety of industries," stated Sergio Edelstein, vice president and general manager of KLA-Tencor's Films and Surface Technology Division. "The Nanopics 2100 unites the best attributes of AFMs and surface profilers, enabling our customers to cost-effectively and reliably meet their surface metrology requirements, and achieve greater profitability on their cutting-edge products."

"For sputter craters and many other applications, we have been seeking a system to fill the wide gap between AFM and traditional stylus profilometers," added Dr. Russell. "The Nanopics 2100, with its 800-micron XY range, 20-micron Z range and near-AFM Z-resolution all in a very compact package, is a welcome solution."

The Nanopics 2100 was introduced one year ago in Japan, where more than 100 systems have been sold to date. Leading U.S. companies have already installed the Nanopics 2100 in their advanced manufacturing facilities, and KLA-Tencor has received multiple orders for the system.

About SII NanoTechnology: SII NanoTechnology (formerly the Scientific Instruments Division of Seiko Instruments) was established as a wholly owned subsidiary in December 2003 with a strategic focus in providing integrated and user-friendly products and services for nanoscience and technology research and development worldwide. SII NanoTechnology is a leading supplier of high-grade advanced analysis and measurement instrumentation. For more information, visit http://www.siint.com

About KLA-Tencor: KLA-Tencor is the world leader in yield management and process control solutions for semiconductor manufacturing and related industries. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with operations around the world, KLA-Tencor ranked #6 on S&P's 2002 index of the top 500 companies in the U.S. KLA-Tencor is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol KLAC. Additional information about the company is available on the Internet at http://www.kla-tencor.com

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