ADEX Ade

ADE Corporation (Nasdaq: ADEX) today announced the receipt of a purchase order for its new NanoXam(TM) patterned wafer metrology system from a leading analog and DSP semiconductor manufacturer. As a result of a successful on-site evaluation program, the NanoXam system was selected by one of the company's 300mm production facilities to control dishing and erosion in leading edge CMP processes and to develop processes for 45nm node advanced products. "As part of our growth strategy to extend ADE's advanced surface topography technology into the semiconductor device fab, we have been working with a leading semiconductor manufacturer to test NanoXam in a world class fabrication environment," stated Dr. Chris L. Koliopoulos, president and chief executive officer of ADE Corporation. "This opportunity for copper and tungsten applications development has allowed ADE to gain leading edge CMP yield experience and to tailor our NanoXam patterned wafer tool as a cost effective, in-line process control solution. We are extremely pleased with NanoXam's performance in the field and with the interest level that we are seeing for this leading-edge product. Customer adoption of this new tool has opened new and larger market opportunities for ADE." The NanoXam design uses optical non-contact interferometry to measure the surface topography of product wafers, providing rapid feedback of copper and tungsten planarization processes while monitoring dishing and erosion. NanoXam's capability for large area 3-D views provides a consistent metric for the selecting and optimizing of expensive consumables in the CMP process. In ECD copper plating, NanoXam measurements provide an innovative solution for characterizing copper layer uniformity and visualizing loading effects. "The NanoXam system provides true 3-D wafer surface topography measurements, enabling customers to quickly optimize and monitor leading edge processes, including tungsten and copper CMP and copper ECD, by allowing non-contact measurements in active areas of product die or on scribe line monitors," continued Dr. Koliopoulos. The NanoXam system, designed for 200mm or 300mm patterned product wafers, provides stable step-height analysis and 3-D surface topography maps with full pattern recognition. The NanoXam's user friendly recipe structure allows multiple die sampling to identify process non-uniformities within-wafer, wafer-to-wafer and lot-to-lot. With fast data acquisition through its non-contact design, NanoXam provides users with a higher value statement and lower cost of ownership when compared to traditional stylus contact profilometry or AFM tools. About ADE Corporation ADE Corporation is a leading supplier of metrology and inspection systems required for production in the silicon wafer, semiconductor device, magnetic data storage and optics manufacturing industries. The Company's systems analyze and report product quality at critical manufacturing process steps for yield enhancement, providing quality certification data that is relied upon by semiconductor wafer, device and computer disk manufacturers. The Company's systems also are used for production measurements in the semiconductor chip fabrication process. To learn more about ADE, visit the Company's Web site at www.ade.com.