April 8, 2003 – Fremont, CA – Asyst Technologies Inc. and Mattson Technology, Inc. have penned a development alliance to integrate Asyst’s next-generation unified atmospheric equipment frontend with Mattson’s 300mm rapid thermal processing (RTP) equipment.

Traditional equipment frontends have historically involved labor- and time-intensive integration of multiple components — atmospheric wafer-handling robotics, loadports, wafer ID and tracking readers, mini-environments, control software — to form a complex tool frontend. Chipmakers today are seeking less complex, more reliable, more serviceable solutions. Asyst’s new offering is designed to address these needs, and deliver configurability, throughput, accuracy and particle performance, the company said. Mattson will integrate the new frontend in its advanced RTP systems. The successful integrated solution will offer optimized cleanroom space, lower CoO, and increased wafer throughput, the companies said.