September 30, 2003 – Applied Materials, Santa Clara, CA, has signed a deal with SCP Global Technologies to include SCP’s single-wafer vapor drying technology with Applied’s Reflexion LK CMP system. The drying technology will be used in place of a spin-rinse-dry process to help eliminate post-CMP defects such as watermarks from polished low-k surfaces, resulting in lower defects and higher yield.