TOKYO, JAPAN - Tokyo Electron Limited today announced that the company will begin full production shipments of the EXPEDIUS™ +, TEL's latest innovation in 300mm wet surface preparation, in January 2007.

The EXPEDIUS + is TEL's most advanced automated wet station, designed specifically for leading edge FEOL cleans, etch, and resist strip for 300mm high volume manufacturing of advanced 45nm technologies and beyond. Offering a 20% footprint reduction, the robust system achieves superior productivity by minimizing wafer handling time with a capability of handling up to 600 wafers per hour. This optimized throughput combined with a smaller footprint enables users to achieve best-in-class performance and cost-of-ownership.

Process performance is enhanced with developments in wet processing, particle removal and drying units. Chemical processing & rinse tanks are optimized in a proprietary single point-of-use bath to meet performance efficiencies required for the most advanced FEOL cleaning processes. TEL's megasonic technology features tunable power settings with highly uniform energy distribution for optimum particle removal with minimum pattern damage. Furthermore, advancements in TEL's state-of-the-art stacked dual chamber dryer with in-situ chemical injection enables shorter drying times while minimizing watermarks and pattern damage.

"TEL developed the EXPEDIUS + to provide the highest productivity in cleaning demanded by today's stringent 300mm high volume manufacturing environments, as well as greater flexibility to meet our customers' diversified needs," said Ken Sato, president of Tokyo Electron Limited.

In addition, the system also features Ingenio™, an industry-proven system which offers real-time collection of tool data and analysis for reduced maintenance support and decreased product downtime. To learn more about the EXPEDIUS +, please visit us at Semicon Japan Booth # 2D-1001.