TOKYO, JAPAN--Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL; Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO, President: Tetsuro Higashi) has announced the production and delivery schedule for its next generation 300mm coater/developer, CLEAN TRACK LITHIUS^TM, to begin shipments in January 2004.

The LITHIUS has inherited the technical advantages of the CLEAN TRACK ACT® 8, which holds a dominant global market share. TEL has implemented its most advanced technology and focused on product development to create this state-of-the-art system, which targets stable production of 70nm technology node. This system is capable of 150 wph throughput. Additionally, the LITHIUS offers flexible one block and two block configurations, depending on customer processing requirements. The tool allows for the integration of measurement modules into a metrology integration block that allows flexibility in responding to the customers' needs.

The system is designed to expand its capability of APC and e-Diagnostics, and to increase the productivity of the customer fabs dramatically by introducing Ingenio^TM TL CT, to deal with e-manufacturing. Also, by adopting a modular block structure to the manufacturing process, TEL has been able to reduce the system manufacturing and start-up time.

TEL has developed automatic adjustment and engineering support tools for LITHIUS modules to reduce the time needed for calibration, and the process variations caused by a manual adjustment process.

The LITHIUS was developed based on concepts gained from a rapidly changing industry to meet challenges such as diversified devices, shorter lead-times, cost reductions, and optimized equipment performance. TEL will maximize the capability of the LITHIUS by fusing three concepts: improved processes, enhanced networks, and a short cycle time tool, to balance overall equipment efficiency.