(EMAILWIRE.COM, December 04, 2002 ) Applied Materials, Inc. announces its new Process Excursion ControlTM (PECTM) service, the semiconductor industry's first comprehensive data management, analysis and system optimization service designed to increase customers' overall factory efficiency. The innovative PEC service leverages Applied Materials' extensive software, hardware and process knowledge to provide chipmakers with faster time to higher chip yield and enhanced device performance.

"Many semiconductor manufacturers are finding the transition to nanometer device generations exceptionally challenging, facing production issues such as substandard yields, long time to market and subtle, yet difficult, process problems," said David Fried, corporate vice president and general manager of Applied Materials' Customer Productivity Support Group. "The PEC service goes beyond traditional yield management consulting, offering customers leverage to directly improve profitability. Applied Materials has combined the powerful tools of automated data mining software with highly evolved data collection and analysis capabilities to find and fix our customers' critical, yield-limiting production issues."

The PEC service gathers data from a large number of disparate fab-wide data sources, including final probe, metrology, defect, parametric and factory automation software, as well as the operating conditions for individual process tools and tool sensors. This information is translated and organized into a customized database capable of indexing over one million unique wafer processing measurements. Advanced data mining algorithms identify critical variables in process tools and device integration that affect yield, device performance and, ultimately, profitability.

Applied Materials' process/yield engineering experts analyze the results to identify root causes and implement corrective action plans that optimize tool function. For those processes and tools determined to be efficiency bottlenecks, the PEC optimization team uses a system-level data gathering capability that provides notification, tool performance reports and data visualization for rapid response.

"The PEC service has the potential to significantly improve our customers' efficiency and profitability by optimizing a vast number of variables. No other service combines detailed process tool-level data with the power of data mining and the strength of our worldwide team of process experts to quickly identify and correct customers' production-critical process issues," said Shawn Smith, general manager of Yield Enhancement Services at Applied Materials.

Applied Materials, the largest supplier of products and services to the global semiconductor industry, is one of the world's leading information infrastructure providers. Applied Materials enables Information for EveryoneTM by helping semiconductor manufacturers produce more powerful, portable and affordable chips. Applied Materials' web site is www.appliedmaterials.com.

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Produced for Applied Materials

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